Remember Me
by TiKanis
Summary: AU. "Were you part of my life, Sakura?" he asked. She nodded. "Don't you want me to remember you?" he asked again. "I won't force you to remember me," she replied. "I want to remember you." he insisted, and kissed her. sxs
1. Break up

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, but we surely enjoy writing about these characters.

Summary: After a fatal car accident, police officer Sasuke Uchiha loses his memory. Now he is stuck with trying to recover the last few years of his life, while at he same time, move on with his future. Yet there were so many people around him trying to fill in memory gaps, one of them being his persistent Father. But there was one person that not once tried to tell him some sort of story from his past, and he wondered why she kept her distance from him. He was sure he knew her. And despite every other memory, it was the memories of her that he so desperately wanted to get back.

Rated T: for language and kissing and ...yeah... :)

* * *

**Remember Me**

By DreamDevourer and TiKanis

Chapter One  
Break up

Sakura Haruno was never the sort to get drunk. She was patient, and smart, and always reasonable. She was well aware that alcohol never solved any problems. She was well aware that after drinking, she will be left with a major headache and nauseous feeling. But what she was also one hundred percent aware of was that she wasn't courageous enough to tell her boyfriend she wanted to breakup while sober.

So she drank, and looked at the clock, and drank some more.

It was 1:00 a.m., and she was in her apartment, still dressed in her elegant emerald gown. Her hair no longer was styled up; she had removed the hair clips long ago, allowing her long hair to fall loosely against her back.

She was supposed to have been at her family's Christmas Eve holiday party, but no, she was stuck here, waiting for her boyfriend to come home from work.

Sakura took another gulp of the red wine that was supposed to have been a gift to her father. She looked at the clock once more; 1:06 am. She heard the jingling of keys and the door knob twisted. Great, he was finally home. Drinking the last content of her wine, she stood up to greet him.

He had small white specks on his dark hair and on his police uniform. At least one of her wishes came true; they were going to have a white Christmas. As for her other wish—no, Sasuke Uchiha was never going to change. He was never going to pick her over his job. She officially had enough of it.

"Sakura? I thought you went to the party," Sasuke said, a bit surprised to see his girlfriend at home right now, instead of her parent's house.

"Oh, I've gone to soooo many parties _alone_, figured not going at all wouldn't make much of a difference," she replied, folding her arms over her chest. She had to resist the urge to wrap her arms around him and kiss him. It's what she always did when he would come home. It gave her a sort of relief feeling that he was alive.

Sasuke, being the detective that he was, didn't skip a beat. He noticed the empty wine bottle, her shoes thrown uncaringly in the different parts of the room, her makeup was messy, and her eyes were a little red. Oh god, had she been crying? He had sincerely apologized over the phone that he couldn't make it to the party. He insisted she go on without him, and that he would make it up to her. She had said that everything was fine, and that he needn't worry.

She stood there, watching him as he studied her. Why did he always break her heart one day, and make it whole the next day? Why couldn't he just commit to her as much as he committed to his job? After three years together, by now, something should've changed, right? Was she so wrong to ask more from him? She shouldn't have to worry sick about him every time he was late to come home, or every time he didn't respond to her phone call.

But worry was all that she could do. On some nights, when she would get emergency phone calls from the hospital about him, she could feel her heart break, little by little.

No, she shouldn't have to put up with this anymore. She thought she could and she was willing to try because she loved him. But after three long years of worry and heartache, she was done. If he was to remain oblivious of the pain he inflicted on her every time he canceled a date, or every time he said he would be home late—then why should she punish herself any further? Why should she continue to try?

"Don't come any closer, Sasuke," Sakura said as he took a few steps toward her. "I can think better when you are a further distance from me. And I've done a whole lot of thinking, and…"

He stopped, confused. Sakura was never one to get drunk. She never cried. But most importantly: she never, ever, looked at him with such a chilling dark look. His heartbeat quickened. Somehow, deep inside, he had a feeling he knew what she was going to say.

"…I think we should break up," Sakura finished without even blinking. She watched his face, waiting for some sort of emotion, some sort of sign that what she said meant something to him. But nothing. He still had his stoic expression on, the one he uses to interrogate criminals.

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes seemed like eternity to Sakura. She had half the mind to throw the empty wine bottle at his head; see if that caused any emotion to appear.

"You're drunk, Sakura," Sasuke concluded with a deep sigh. In three long strides, he was standing in front of her. He placed his cold hands on her bare shoulders, and she quickly gasped at the cold contact. "Sorry, it's snowing outside, it's pretty cold," he apologized, but didn't remove his hands. The warmth from her body was already heating him up, as it always did.

Sakura was biting her lower lip, even after drinking; she still couldn't muster up her full courage to leave him. But she had to stand her ground. She couldn't live like this anymore. Either he changed, or she was gone. Clearly he wasn't going to change—he will always be committed to his job—so it was her that had to go. Oh god, she really didn't want to. She loved him so much. But she was drowning in her misery and no matter what he said or did; it wasn't going to help this time.

She shrugged his arms away and took a few steps backwards. Distance. Distance is what she needed from him. After three years of always being with him, thinking of him, worrying about him—she was suffocating. Maybe after a breakup, they could both think clearer.

"I want to breakup, Sasuke," she repeated more sternly, keeping her green eyes locked to his dark ones. Why was he so tall? She felt like a timid mouse standing up against a roaring lion.

Sasuke combed one hand through his untamed hair, unsure of how to feel. This wasn't what he had expected. She loved him, and he loved her. They were happy together, weren't they? Did he miss something along the years that they've been together? She never showed signs of hating him, or falling out of love with him, or wanting to leave him before. She was always there for him, so why now?

"Why?" he asked plainly. He towered over her, his hands now folded across his chest. He loomed over her like a dark statue.

"Why? Why?" Sakura scoffed, how dare he? He actually looked confused. Fine, she would explain, after all, it's why she drank; hoping she could muster up everything she had to tell him exactly how she felt. "Because I'm sick and tired of being a second choice to you when it comes to everything you do!"

"Sakura, you've never been second—"

"Just let me finish, okay?" Sakura said abruptly as she backed further away from him. She needed some room to breathe. She needed a safe distance from him. She lightly tripped on her gown because she wasn't wearing shoes.

Sasuke stood in the same statue-like position, not moving an inch. Not sure where to go. He honestly felt like he was cornered. Had he known he would come home to this tonight, he would've waited longer at the station, until she had fallen asleep. He had entirely different plans for Christmas with her, and breaking up was not one of them.

"How many times have I've waited in restaurants for you to show up? How many times did I watch a movie alone at the theatres, or went to a party alone?"

"Sakura…"

He said her name in that husky voice, one that she would always give in to. But not this time. He was going to get a taste of his own medicine. "No, Sasuke, not this time. You've stood me up at least twice a week. And I've always let it go, because I knew how important your job was. And I've kept silent, thinking that my love for you was enough. Who needs to go out to some fancy restaurant, right? I was just always grateful you would safely come home to me." Her lips trembled, could she possibly do this? She loved him so much. Could she possibly live without him? She was so used to waking up in his arms every morning, that it scared her to think she would never be able to do that again.

Sasuke's arms fell to his side, and his gaze lowered. He couldn't look at her directly. She was shaking with emotion. He was scared he wouldn't know what to do if she cried. He wasn't good at comforting people. He was good at questioning them, getting answers, and beating people up. But comforting? That was a different language to him. Sakura was always so tough, which was one thing he loved about her. She never cried; she was always smiling and happy, which in turn would make him happy. He didn't know she had so much hatred towards him.

He felt guilty for being so blind and oblivious. He was always so caught up with his police duty, that when he came home, he just wanted to hold her, and fall asleep with her. He felt happy knowing that she was always safe in his arms. He never questioned how she felt all those times he called or texted to cancel a date, because she would always tell him she understood, and that it was okay. Why hadn't she said something long ago? He could've tried to be better for her, if he had known. He didn't want to lose her because of this miscommunication. He couldn't lose her.

His statue-like posture slowly began to fade. His shoulders hunched, and his gaze lowered to the grown. He felt helpless as she stood far away from him. She looked so beautiful in that dress, and her long hair was luscious. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to kiss her pain away. But he wouldn't dare try now.

"Sakura, I didn't know…you've never—"he managed to stumble some words out, but she cut in again.

"Why I never complained about any of this before? Is that what you're confused about?" She snarled. "God, Sasuke, for a brilliant police officer, your detective skills pretty much suck when it comes to me." She laughed with sarcasm. "I've tried very hard to put aside all those times you left me, Sasuke. I kept reasoning with myself, that in the hour that we are eating dinner, you could be somewhere else, saving someone's life. So it was okay that you left me, because people needed good cops like you. And I was lucky to just have you home. But you know what Sasuke? When you really look at our relationship history, the only times we are together is when we are having sex."

There, she said it. She said what had been in her mind for days, weeks, and months. She wished it wasn't like that, but at the end of the night, their relationship really only summed up to sex.

Sasuke's hands turned into fists as he looked into her eyes. Was that what she thought? That he was only here for sex? Sure, he was always on duty, and rarely spent time with her as a normal boyfriend would, but that didn't mean he cared for her any less. He was with her because he cared for her. And he made love to her as much as possible to show her that. It must be the wine, she was drunk. That could only explain why she was saying stuff like that.

"Sakura, we should talk about this tomorrow morning, when you're in a better state of mind," Sasuke said in a cautious tone. One thing he learned was to never patronize a person when they're drunk.

"Don't you dare talk to me in that tone!" she yelled at him. "I'm not some suspect you can smooth talk to. I know what I'm saying, believe me. I've practiced all this in my head over and over. I just never had the guts to say it to you, because I never, ever, wanted to hurt you in anyway. I love you, Sasuke. But you seem to have taken me for granted—"

"I've never taken you for granted, Sakura. Please, let's just talk tomorrow." Sasuke wasn't one to plead with anyone, but he really would rather discuss this when she was more level headed, not when she looked like she wanted to hurl something at him.

"You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you? Sasuke, I'm done, okay? I don't want to be some trophy girlfriend you get to show around to your friends when you feel like it. I don't want to be some girl you come home to just to sleep with. I don't want to come second or third to your other duties. And I don't want to be left alone anymore!" She took a few deep breaths to calm herself a little or else she would throw the lamp at his stoic face.

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair again, frustrated. He could confront a criminal with a gun aimed at him, but he couldn't face his girlfriend.

"Fine, Sakura, what do you want?" he managed to ask. His voice was so soft, so helpless.

Sakura let out a small laugh, what did she want?

"I want to be loved and to be someone's first choice. Is that too selfish of me?" she replied with a sigh.

It was quiet then. She looked at him and he looked at her. They were both trying to read each other's mind, but they were both too good at hiding their true thoughts. Maybe that was their problem. They've always just assumed things about each other, that they never really asked each other what the problem was.

"Sakura…I've always loved—"he was abruptly cut off by the ring of his cellphone. _Damn_, he thought, _this was not a good time._

How she hated that phone of his. Now was the moment that summed up everything she was trying to say to him.

She picked up the hem of her gown and walked towards him, stopping a foot away. The phone stopped ringing just when he took it out of his pocket. "Well, Sasuke, I guess this is it, huh?" she said, looking up at him. Her tears were threatening to fall down.

Sasuke looked at the black cellphone on his hand and then at her. The phone started ringing again, it was his Lieutenant. It could be an emergency, he had to go. But he knew if he answered that phone call and left, he would never see Sakura again. The phone stopped ringing. Sasuke never missed a phone call. He was very punctual and very responsible when it came to his job. But what was more important to him?

This wasn't fair. How could he choose between the girl he loved and the duty he was pledged to? And then it hit him. This was what she was saying to him all along. He always chose his job over her. Never once had he ever said no to his Lieutenant, nor had he ever turned down a new case. But in doing so, he left Sakura alone and neglected. Yet she never complained. She had been trying her best to be supportive of him all these years. He could only blame himself for her pain.

She was standing in front of him, waiting for an answer.

His phone beeped, a text message was sent. It only said the word "Urgent." This was his job. It was what he was good at. It was all he knew. But Sakura was the one that kept him sane. She was the one that loved him and made him happy. She was the light in his dark world. And right now, she was asking him to choose what was most important to him.

He put his left hand in his pocket and took out a small velvet box. He held it in a tight fist. He had been carrying around the small box for over two weeks now, planning to propose to her on New Years Eve, but maybe this could be a good Christmas gift instead. This could be a good way to prove to her that he loved her and wanted to commit to her. This would prove that he was willing to try to be better, right? He couldn't lose her, not now, not ever.

The phone rang for the third time. He furrowed his brows as he looked from his phone and hesistantly back to her. She shook her head slowly at him and with a trembling lower lip, she said, "Just go, okay?"

"Sakura, please, I want—"

"Did you not hear me? I said go! Alright? I'm tired of all of this!" She waved her hand at his phone. "I don't want to be with you anymore. I'm done!"

Sasuke put his phone in his pocket. He made his choice. He chose her. He reached out for her but she slapped his hand away. His heart shattered as he saw tears flow down her face. How had he not known how much suffering he had caused her?

"Go, God dammit!" she yelled again while pointing at the door.

Sasuke made one more attempt to reach out for her, she moved backwards, out of his reach.

"I hate you, Sasuke!" she said with such venom. It took him by surprise. She had never said that to him. They had their small arguments before, as all couples did, but they would always end up in bed and happy. There was never any hatred…until now. "I don't want to see you anymore. You can keep your job and you can go find someone else who doesn't care if she's repeatedly stood up."

Every part of him wanted to just yell at her and make her listen to what he had to say, but it was clear that she already made the decision for him. She no longer wanted any part of him.

So this was it, huh? This was how it felt for a heart to break by someone you loved.

His phone rang once more, and she glared daggers him. "Why are you still standing there? Get out of here! Just fucking go!"

His lips were pressed into a thin line as he nodded slowly and walked away from her.

As soon as she heard the door close, she fell down to her knees and cried.

* * *

A loud, obnoxious ringing woke Sakura up from her unpleasant dream. How long had she been asleep? She looked at the clock on the wall, it was 2:46am. She had only been asleep for a little over an hour, but it sure felt longer. The ringing stopped and in seconds it started again. She wondered who could be calling her at this time of the night, but ever so quickly, her heartbeat started to increase in pace.

The last time she had a phone call so late at night; it was because Sasuke had been in the emergency room, having a bullet removed from his shoulder.

Gathering the bottom of her dress into her hand, she quickly got off the couch, and ran to the phone that was attached to the wall.

"Hello?"

"Is this Sakura Haruno?" a female voice asked.

"Yes, I'm Sakura," she replied, already the feeling of dread was surrounding her. _Oh god, please don't let it be about Sasuke_, she thought, helplessly.

"There's been a terrible car accident and since you were the first person listed under Officer Uchiha's emergency contact list, I've been asked to call you and inform you that Officer Uchiha is in a coma—"

Sakura immediately hung up. That wasn't possible. This had to be a dream.

The phone rang again. But she didn't answer. She sat on the cold wooden floor and rested her back against the wall. It had to be a dream.

The phone rang again, and she still didn't answer.

The third time it rang, Sakura raised her hand and tugged on the phone wire, causing the phone to fall on her lap.

"Hello, hello? Sakura?"

She knew that voice. It belonged to Naruto, Sasuke's partner.

"Naruto…" she weakly said into the phone.

"Sakura! I've been trying to reach you…it's Sasuke, Sakura, he's in really bad shape. You have to come to the hospital," his voice had traces of panic and worry.

_It had to be a dream. I'm still asleep. It's just an awful dream_, she kept repeating in her mind.

"Sakura, are you there? Did you hear me? There was a car chase, and the road was icy. Sasuke…Sasuke lost control of the car, it's really bad, Sakura, please hurry. I don't trust these doctors. They're saying he's in a coma and who knows if he will wake up…but you can fix him, because you're the best doctor there is, so please Sakura, hurry up."

She let go of the phone halfway through Naruto's response.

Her body felt so heavy, she couldn't move.

"Sakura, hello? Are you there? Sakura!"

"I'll be there, Naruto." Sakura replied with a shaken voice. She heard the dial tone from the phone. Naruto had hung up.

_I'm so sorry, Sasuke_, she thought as she wrapped her arms around her legs. _I'm so sorry._

Sakura had never felt so alone as she did right then.

_To be continued..._

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	2. Vanilla

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, but we surely enjoy writing about these characters.

Summary: After a fatal car accident, police officer Sasuke Uchiha loses his memory. Now he is stuck with trying to recover the last few years of his life, while at he same time, move on with his future. Yet there were so many people around him trying to fill in memory gaps, one of them being his persistent Father. But there was one person that not once tried to tell him some sort of story from his past, and he wondered why she kept her distance from him. He was sure he knew her. And despite every other memory, it was the memories of her that he so desperately wanted to get back.

Rated T: for language and kissing and ...yeah... :)

* * *

**Remember Me**

By DreamDevourer and TiKanis

Chapter Two  
Vanilla

Sakura held his hand in hers, gently rubbing the top of his with her thumb.

The doctor that was treating him stood at foot of the bed. "Aside from the broken bones, he hit his head pretty hard. He will suffer some brain damage, and with that, comes memory loss," he stated point blankly as he adjusted his eye glasses.

Sakura sat quietly, her eyes glued to Sasuke's sleeping form. His head was bandaged, as was his chest and his right arm. The cuts were all stitched, some were minor and some will definitely leave scars on his body. At least his legs weren't broken, neither was his spine damaged, so there was no worry of him being paralyzed, she thanked God for that much.

"As to how much memory loss he will suffer from, we will have to see when he wakes up. In most cases, patients lose a few months or a few years of memory. Some have been known to lose their whole lifetime of memories."

Sakura simply nodded, she knew all of this, she was a doctor after all.

"It takes time, but some do get them back, and some don't. Every person is different. The most important thing is that he is alive, and he has a chance to either regain those memories or simply make new ones," the old doctor tried to sound comforting.

Sakura nodded again, as she stood up and leaned towards Sasuke's face. "Don't forget me," she pleaded as she placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Please, remember me." Tears started forming, she couldn't help it. Her tears fell onto his cheek, slowly sliding off to the side. "I'm so sorry for what I said. Just please, remember me. I love you." Her voice was shaky.

Not able to take it anymore, Sakura moved away and took her leave. With her head hung low, she tugged on her gown as she walked out the room.

"Umph," she gasped as she knocked into someone's chest.

"How is he doing?" the voice that belonged to the solid chest asked. She felt his hands on her bare shoulders. They were warm against her cold skin.

Sakura raised her head to look into his cerulean blue eyes. They were filled with worry. How could he not be worried? He was Sasuke's best friend after all.

"Oh, hey Naruto," Sakura mumbled. "Physically, he will heal up just fine, but he will most likely have to go into physical therapy for that broken arm of his."

"Uh-huh, and what about all that memory-loss crap the doctor was rambling to me about earlier?" Naruto inquired. "Is he really going to forget everything?"

Sakura stiffened. She really hoped he wouldn't forget everything. "I don't know, Naruto. We can only wait until he wakes up and see what he remembers."

Naruto narrowed his eyes down at her. "And how long will that take?"

"Naruto…stuff like this, it's different for everyone. For all we know, he could wake up in a few days with all his memory intact, or he can wake up a month from now and only remember some bits and pieces, or he could wake up with a blank mind," Sakura replied with a trace of annoyance present in her tone.

Then came the question she was hoping to avoid. "What happened between you two tonight, Sakura?"

"Nothing happened." She shrugged off his hands and started to walk to the elevator.

"Don't give me that bullshit attitude, Sakura," Naruto snarled as he grabbed hold of her elbow and turned her around. "He left the station just fine earlier. But when I met him at the crime scene later on, he looked as dead as that lady on the ground. He wouldn't even talk to me. And when we spotted the suspect, he went off to chase him without me. That's not like Sasuke at all. He's too smart for that. Tell me what happened." His tone was so direct and cold, Sakura shivered.

Naruto was always playful with her, seeing him this serious scared her. How could she tell him that it was her fault this happened? Had she not broken up with him, nor yelled at him and told him she hated him, he wouldn't have left angry and he wouldn't have been so careless. He would've been more focused and wouldn't have had that car accident.

Yes, it was her fault. And she was full of guilt. But she couldn't tell that to Naruto. She didn't want to make him an enemy. She needed a friend to help her get through this.

"Naruto, please," she pleaded. "Don't do this now."

His stern features relaxed a little and he let go of her elbow, only to envelop her in a hug.

Sakura relaxed into his arms.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. I know how much you love him."

She nodded and when he laughed, she glanced up at him with a quizzical look.

"Oh come on, Sakura. Sasuke's tough! He's gonna pull through this, and we are all going to have one big laugh," he said with a reassured grin.

She returned the smile. She loved that he was always so positive and cheering.

"Yeah, he will," she agreed. Though, deep down, she knew it wasn't going to be easy when he woke up.

"Now, where's your coat? Do you want to catch a cold or something?" he teased as he flicked her on her forehead.

"Ouch," she whined and rubbed the sore spot. "I left it in the room, which is fine since I'm going to the locker room to change into my scrubs."

"You sure you should be working? You haven't had any sleep—"

"I'm fine," she cut in, and with a wave, she walked away.

* * *

By 5a.m., Sakura had finished her rounds around the hospital, trying to keep busy. But at this time, most patients were asleep, and the ER had very few visitors; therefore, they didn't need her assistance.

She found herself back in Sasuke's room, sitting on the chair beside the bed, with his hand in hers once again. She rested her head on the side of the bed and listened to his heartbeat from the monitor.

The steady heartbeat eased her body and soothed her mind. It slowly lulled her to sleep.

The week that followed, Sakura spent majority of her time in his room, reading his favorite books to him. At the moment, she was reading Angels and Demons. She, herself, wasn't a big fan of fiction novels, but Sasuke loved those sort of mystery stories, and so she read to him.

There was a theory that patients who were in comas could actually hear what you're saying. They might not be able to respond nor recall it when they wake up, but at the moment, they could still hear you. Talking to them could comfort them in their lonely slumber. It could ease their worry and help them heal faster.

Some doctors put that theory aside as a joke. But Sakura needed to believe that it was true. That Sasuke could hear her. And when he finally awakens, he would still have memories of her.

And so, after reading a few chapters every evening to him, Sakura would tell him a story from their time together. This time, she decided to share the first day that they had met. It was on New Years Eve, exactly three years ago from today.

"It was chaos that night in the ER," she started. "There were people there because they got hit on the heads by champagne corks, or they fell down the stairs drunk. And not to mention the little kids that swarmed the place. There's nothing worse than having forty kids in one room with high fevers."

"And then, I saw you. The ambulance came in rushing through the hallway with two stretchers. You were on the first one and Naruto was on the second. The paramedics were filling me in on your injuries as we all were running down the hallway to the surgery room. You had three gun wounds; one on your shoulder, another on your thigh, and the third had just scrapped against the side of your neck. You still have the scars, so maybe you will remember once you see them," Sakura paused as she gazed at the line on the side of his neck. It had healed up pretty well despite all the moving around he did while he was in the healing process at the time.

"Naruto had only two gun wounds, both hit his shoulder. The police on duty with you two said that Naruto would've been dead if you hadn't pushed him aside and gotten in line of fire. As we were getting you ready for surgery, you gripped my wrist. Even after all that blood loss, your grip was strong, which suprised me. And you know what you said, Sasuke?" Sakura smiled lightly in fondness of the memory.

"'_Vanilla_.' That's what you had mumbled, and I thought I misheard you, so I leaned toward you and asked you to repeat it, and you said, '_You smell like vanilla, I love vanilla_,'" Sakura's vision started to blurry from the tears that were building up. "I had no idea how you were able to smell it, since I had applied the lotion early in the morning, it usually wore out by the end of the day. You made me blush so bad, the other doctors thought I was going to faint."

The tears already slipped down her cheeks as she neared the end of her story. "And what you said just before passing out from all that blood loss was, '_I love you'_. My heart had never drummed as quick as it had that night. I knew you were just saying that because you were delirious from all the trauma, but at the same time, at that instant, Sasuke, I fell in love with you."

She wiped her eyes as she got up from her seat and leaned closer to his face. She traced the outline of his lips and then placed her lips against his. "Happy New Year, sweetheart," she murmured against his lips. "I love you." With a small sigh, she sat back in her seat. "But let me tell you, Sasuke,.You and Naruto made it hell for me while you two stayed in the recovery room!" she said with a small saddened laugh and went back to reading the book.

* * *

Three weeks later, on January 21st, he was awake.

Sakura had finished her rounds and was making her way to Sasuke's room when she saw a clutter of nurses and two doctors in the room. She wanted to barge into the room, but she was still on duty, so she had to remain professional. She stood by the door, her hands in tight fists, trying to keep herself from running to his bedside.

"When is your birthday?" the doctor asked.

"July twenty-third, nineteen eighty-five," he replied in a rugged tone. "I'm twenty-eight years old," he added.

Slight hope beamed into Sakura.

"That's good, and what are your parent's names?" the doctor asked again as he scribbled on his notepad.

"Fukagu and Mikoto Uchiha. My dad owns the Uchiha business firm, and my mother stays at home and paints. I also have a brother, his name is Itachi. He works with my father."

Sakura quickly stepped out the room, and leaned against the wall. _No, no, no,_ she thought. He doesn't remember. Yes, his father owned the grand Uchiha business firm, that much was true. But his mother was dead, having overdosed in pills a little over six years ago. As for his brother? Itachi had driven his car over a bridge about ten years ago, when Sasuke was a senior in high school. His life was as screwed up as it could get.

"And do you speak to your brother and mother often?" she heard the doctor ask.

There was a pause, and the heart monitor started to beep faster.

"Easy now, easy. No need to stress yourself out," the doctor said in a calming tone.

Sakura peeked into the room and watched as the nurse leaned Sasuke back against the bed.

"I don't remember when I last talked to them, maybe because of the accident. But we are on really good terms. Where are they now? Do they know I'm here? They must be worried about me," Sasuke inquired as he looked at the doctor and the nurses. Everything felt so weird. His head felt like it was on fire. He was surrounded by strangers and the room smelled awful. It was like they cleaned everything with bleach. But through all that, he could smell a sweetness of a sort. Vanilla.

"We don't allow visitors until we know for sure that you are stabilized," the doctor replied.

Sakura heard the hint of sadness in the doctor's tone. She wondered how the news would be told to him—that his mother and brother were dead. She wouldn't be the one to do that. No way in hell. Maybe he will remember himself after sometime.

"Now, what else can you recall? Anything from your childhood?"

"Yeah, that's all clear to me. The only thing that's foggy and gives me a headache is when I try to remember things after high school. I remember some bits and pieces of when I was in college. And then there's this one person…"

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. She found herself slowly walking into the room. Hopeful that maybe the person he remembered was her.

He was looking at the doctor, not yet noticing her.

"…he has blonde hair and the most obxnous voice I've ever heard. He just won't stop shouting in my head. I think's he's my friend or something," he paused, trying to think of a name that would go with that blonde guy. "Naruto…yeah, I think his name is Naruto. I probably work with him—" Sasuke stopped as his gaze shifted to the new person in the room.

Sakura's heart just nearly shattered. She really thought he was going to say he remembered her, but he was talking about Naruto. And just before she could escape, he turned and spotted her. She froze. She met his dark cloudy stare._ Breathe, Sakura, just breathe_, she told herself while clenching her bottom lip between her teeth.

The doctor turned to her and gave her a nod in recognition. He turned his focus back to Sasuke, keeping an eye on his expressions. Sasuke had a blank look on his face, not sure as to what to think of this new person. But, by God, she was beautiful. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and her green eyes were stunning.

"And what about her? Do you remember her?" the doctor asked him, causing him to break eye contact with her.

"Ah…" there was a long pause, and the heart monitor increased again. He was trying to put a name and face to her, but there was nothing in his mind that included her. He started to shake his head slowly, and shrugged. "I…no, no, I do not." He watched as her body stiffened and she put her hands in the pockets of her white lab coat. "I'm sorry," he added, worrying that he somehow displeased her.

"Not to worry, I'm just your doctor," Sakura said in a stern voice and then turned her focus to the doctor that was taking care of him. "May I have a word with you?"

"Certaintly, let me just check his vitals one more time." the doctor said. "I'll leave a nurse with you, Sasuke. Try not to get up or make any sudden moves. It's best you just lay down. If you need any assistance, Rina will help you."

Sakura immediately left the room and waited for him outside.

"Well, he remembers some stuff—"

"He remembers them incorrectly," Sakura abruptly cut in, and then quickly apogolized for snapping at the old man.

The doctor adjusted his glasses and looked at the notes. "There's a pattern here, Sakura. He seems to remember everything clearly up until he was eighteen, when his brother committed suicide. After that, it's just a daze of faces and small events that are forming false story lines in his head. Like his mother. She's dead as well, not too long after his brother."

"But he remembers Naruto a little, and he met him when he started his police training, which was when he was twenty-two," Sakura said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Right, I didn't say he lost all memory after his brother's death. I said his memories have molded into false memories. And they are happy memories, Sakura, not the harsh ones he should have."

"Meaning, what? That he has somehow suppressed any bad memories?"

"Indeed. It seems that he has built a wall around any memory that has caused him some sort of trauma or pain. He doesn't even recall that he's a police officer, nor does he recall his family's troubles, nor does he—"

"He doesn't remember me," Sakura interjected. "He doesn't even recognize me."

The doctor sighed and patted her on his shoulder. "It takes time. He only woke up about an hour ago. It's pretty amazing as to how much he remembers so far. We just need to work on making sure he gets the right memories."

Sakura nodded, not able to take this a moment longer. She wanted to rush back in there and pour her heart out. To apologize for the cruel things she had said to him. How foolish it was of her to ever think she could want Sasuke out of her life. She was just angry with him but she never explained it to him. She just let that anger grow and grow until it led her to want to leave him. It was her fault for not sharing her feelings with him long ago. And so, she had thought, by breaking up with him, things would get better, but the moment he had left her apartment, she had been filled with dread. She loved him. Now she regretted it. But she had to hold all these feelings and thoughts to herself.

She had to walk away for now, and let him rebuild his memory. She had to wait.

Hopefully, he would remember only the good parts of their relationship, not just the ending.

Hopefully, he would give her one more chance.

"Notify me if there's any changes," she said and walked away.

* * *

Sasuke sat patiently in his bed as the nurse brought over the tray of food. Damn, he was hungry as hell. But he had a feeling that the hospital food wasn't going to fulfill the hunger he had. He felt like he hadn't eaten in an eternity, though it's only been close to four weeks. It was more than just hunger of the stomach, though. He felt it throughout his body. Like he was missing something and he had to find it to fulfil himself. Only, he didn't know what it was. He felt so empty inside.

"You kept saying the word vanilla, over and over, and that you love vanilla, as you were waking up," the young nurse by the name of Rina said to him as she placed the tray on the tray holder next to him. "So I snuck you a cup of vanilla pudding. It's the only vanilla thing we have in the hospital, but shhh, don't tell anyone," Rina said with a wink.

Sasuke smiled at her and thanked her.

Yes, it was weird, but the first thing he craved when he woke up was vanilla. And then he started smelling it in the air. It got even stronger when that doctor with the pink hair was in the room, but now it was barely noticeable.

_Must be the head trauma,_ he told himself. He was probably the only nutcase that smelled vanilla in this room. He chuckled to himself as he put a spoonful of vanilla in his mouth.

_Delicious_, he thought with a pleased look.

_To be continued..._

* * *

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	3. A Kiss

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, but we surely enjoy writing about these characters.

Summary: After a fatal car accident, police officer Sasuke Uchiha loses his memory. Now he is stuck with trying to recover the last few years of his life, while at he same time, move on with his future. Yet there were so many people around him trying to fill in memory gaps, one of them being his persistent Father. But there was one person that not once tried to tell him some sort of story from his past, and he wondered why she kept her distance from him. He was sure he knew her. And despite every other memory, it was the memories of her that he so desperately wanted to get back.

Rated T: for language and kissing and ...yeah... :)

* * *

**Remember Me**

By DreamDevourer and TiKanis

Chapter Three  
A Kiss

Sakura had avoided him for three days. She couldn't bring herself to see him, knowing that he wouldn't recognize her. What scared her away from him even more was fear that he might remember her in bad terms. She wouldn't be able to cope with the idea of him hating her.

She was used to the routine of going to his room every night after work. So now, after finishing her rounds around the hospital, she had to force herself to go back to the apartment. But being in the apartment made it worse. There were too many memories of them together. From photographs on the walls to the stakes of CDs and DVDs of their favorite movies. Not to mention the closet they shared. She smelled him all over the clothes.

On the fourth day, she couldn't help it. She had to go check up on him. From the reports that his doctor gave, there seemed to not be any change in his memories since he first woke up. With her clipboard in hand, Sakura made her way down the hall to his room. Her pace slowed down as she neared the room.

Sakura came to a halt at the door, shocked at what she walked into. Sasuke was in bed, in a seated position, with a peanut butter sandwich in his hand. The nurse was by the window, closing the shades.

"What do you think you are doing!?" Sakura shouted as she stormed into the room.

"Uhhh…I'm eating," Sasuke replied, confused at the outburst from the pink haired doctor. He had wondered where she had gone. He hadn't seen her since he had woken up a few days ago. He had thought to ask Rina about the strange doctor, but had changed his mind, not wanting to appear weird. The last thing he wanted people to think was that he had a crush on the doctor.

Well, he didn't really have a crush on her. How could he? He only saw her for five minutes in the past four days. Five minutes was definitely not long enough to like someone. Though, he had to admit, she had the most stunning green eyes he'd ever seen. And those green eyes looked murderously at him.

All of a sudden she was by his bed and his sandwich was snatched from him. "Hey, what are you—"

"Are you trying to kill yourself!?" she glared at him.

"Doctor Haruno—"

"Rina, your job is not to cater to every demand the patient has. Your job is to make sure the patient comes to no harm while he heals." Rina opened her mouth to defend herself, but Sakura went on with her lecture. "And I realize how hard it must be to say _no_ to a handsome patient, but really, control yourself. You could've just killed him."

Rina put a hand to her mouth, stunned by the outburst from her favorite doctor. "I…I…didn't know-"

"Did you not read in his chart that he's allergic to peanuts?"

Rina lowered her head in shame. "No…I…"

Sasuke looked at the peanut butter sandwich that the angry doctor held. That little thing had the power to kill him? He was suprised. If it were not for the doctor, he probably would've been near his death. Luckily, he was in the hospital, with plenty of doctors to come to his aid should he have eaten it. Though he doubted they would've reached him in time. Rina wasn't really efficient in her duties. As a nurse, you should know your patient's medical history. Just as the doctor had said, she really did cater to his every need. Not that he was complaining, he quite liked the attention Rina gave him. Unlike his supposed doctor whom he hadn't seen in four days!

On the other hand, he felt sorry for Rina. She was only doing as he told her. He really wanted a peanut butter sandwich, having recalled a memory as a child of when he ate one. Though, he didn't recall the aftermath of eating the sandwich.

"It's not her fault, Doc. I asked her to get me the sandwich—"

Sakura's angry glare turned to him. "The hospital doesn't serve any peanut related food. She not only violated the hospital's rule, but she didn't do her duty as a nurse and put you in danger. I suggest, Mr. Uchiha, you rethink your tactics while you stay here. We are not here to serve you. We are here to make sure you heal properly. So don't make it difficult for us, am I understood?" Not waiting for his response, she turned back to the nurse. "Take all this away and return with the standard hospital meal."

Rina quickly gathered the tray of food and scurried out the room.

Sasuke laid back against his bed, grinning. The doctor sure looked cute when she was fired up. What was it that she referred to him earlier as, handsome patient? His grin spread. So she thought he was handsome, eh?

Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself. She jotted down the numbers the heart monitor read and took a look at the IV to make sure it was secure. She sensed his eyes on her, but she couldn't get herself to meet his gaze.

Sasuke watched her carefully as she wrote on the clipboard. He wondered if her handwriting was as bad as all the other doctors. He never quite understood why doctors had terrible handwriting. Her hand moved gracefully across the paper on the clipboard. The sleeve of her white lab coat moved downward, exposing her small wrist. The shiny gold bracelet caught his eye. He felt a sharp pain from the side of his head.

A memory of him walking into a jewelry store rushed to his mind. An old man greeted him with a friendly handshake. It seemed he had gone in there quite a few times. The old man was showing him all the new jewelry that had arrived. It was the gold bracelet with tiny emerald stones that had caught his attention.

"You seem to be doing fine and your bandages look clean, so I'll be on my way—"Just as Sakura was turning to leave, her wrist was grabbed.

She gasped at the contact. Her gaze moved upward from his hand on her wrist to his face. "Sasuke, you're bleeding!" she panicked as she placed down the clipboard on the side of the bed and grabbed a napkin from the tray holder. The heart monitor showed his heart beat increasing.

"The bracelet," he mumbled. "The bracelet…"

"What bracelet?" she asked as she leaned his head back. She pressed the napkin to his nose. Her wrist was still clasped in his hand.

"The one you're wearing," he replied, opening his eyes. He lifted her wrist upright, causing her lab coat sleeve to fall to her elbow, exposing the gold bracelet.

Sakura glanced from her bracelet to his face. He looked like he was in a trance. His eyes were half open. Could he be remembering the time he gave her the bracelet? Tired of leaning over him, Sakura sat beside him.

"What about the bracelet?" Sakura asked, her eyes narrowing at him. He was trying so hard to recall the memory that he caused his nose to bleed. If a small memory like that could cause a nose bleed, what would a more traumatic memory like the death of his brother and mother do to him? Sakura was greatly concerned. "Sasuke, what about the bracelet?" she asked him again, trying to snap him back to reality.

"I bought one for her," he managed to say. "My girlfriend. I bought one for my girlfriend, long ago."

Small hope beamed into Sakura. As the bleeding subdued, she removed the napkin. "Do you remember her?"

Sasuke's eyes opened fully now. He hadn't realized how close the doctor was sitting next to him. She was even more beautiful up close. Her eye lashes were long and dark. She had small freckles on the bridge of her nose and a few on her checks. Her bangs covered her eyebrows and the rest of her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. What caught his attention the most were her luscious cherry colored lips.

He wondered if she would get mad if he kissed her. He let go of her wrist and placed his hand against her cheek. To his surprise, she didn't pull away from him. Her stiff composure started to ease as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. He moved his thumb downward to the corner of her lips.

"Sasuke, do you remember your girlfriend?" Sakura asked again. The way he touched her made her nervous but she didn't stop him. He was remembering her, finally.

He traced the lining of her bottom lip. "She has your lips," he said in a low voice as slowly brought her head towards him. "And your soft skin." He nuzzled his head on the side of her neck, inhaling her smell. Vanilla. Oh, how he loved vanilla. "And she smells just like you," he murmured against her neck.

His unshaved cheek rubbed against her skin, causing it to turn a light red. "What's her name, Sasuke?" Sakura asked, breathless. Her heartbeat was beating so loud inside her chest.

Sasuke rested the tip of his nose against hers. "Karin," he whispered and closed the distance between them with his lips.

Sakura didn't know how many times her heart could be broken by him. Of all the people he could've remembered, he just had to remember his ex-girlfriend from college! To make it worse, he was confusing his ex with her! He was still in his memory trance and he was kissing her, thinking she's his ex. Only to him, he didn't have an ex. Apparently Karin was his current girlfriend whom he apparently bought a bracelet for.

Tears fell down her cheeks as his lips moved against hers. She doubted she would be able to get over this incident. The kiss didn't even last a minute, when she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away. She quickly got off the bed.

Sasuke's eyes widened with shock as he realized what he had just done. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…" he started to say; however, she wasn't listening. She threw away the bloodstained napkin and returned to his bed to take back the clipboard. All awhile, her gaze was lowered to the ground. He looked at his hand that was wet. She had cried when he kissed her. Her tears had dripped from her jaw line onto his hand, and down his arm. His eyes traced the path they traveled, stopping at his elbow. He felt so guilty for what he did. He wanted so badly to hug her and sincerely apologize, but he was hooked up to the IV and heart monitor, so he couldn't get out of bed.

He opened his mouth to apologize again but she was already heading to the door. His thoughts went to the item that caused him to act so foolishly. "Who gave you the bracelet?" his voice was loud and clear, causing her to halt at the door.

Sakura's tears continued to stream down her face. She took a deep breath, debating on whether to respond or not.

"Who gave you the bracelet, Sakura?" his cold tone reminded her of the voice he used when he was in his police uniform. So direct and demanding.

With her back still facing him, she replied in the same cold tone, "My boyfriend."

Sasuke clenched the bed sheet that covered his lap. Unexpected jealous rage roared inside him. "Where is he now?"

"He's gone," she responded and walked out the room. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve of her coat as she headed for the staircase.

"I'm such a fucking idiot," Sasuke said out loud. "Such a fucking idiot." He totally screwed things up. He didn't know what had gotten into him. He was thinking about the bracelet, and remembering the time he gave it to a girl. His girlfriend. It was her birthday and she was so happy with her gift. She had kissed him. The feel of her lips against his own felt amazing. And afterwards, his lips were burning.

Just as they were now. He touched his lips with his finger tips. This kiss probably would've been just as amazing if she had kissed him back.

He desperately wanted to know who the girl really was.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a clear image of her. He saw flashes of red hair, or was it pink? No, it must've been red. The only pink haired girl he ever met was the doctor. There was no way she was the one from his memory. If the doctor was his girlfriend, obviously she would've told him the moment he had woken up.

He had said the name 'Karin' because that was the only girl name he could come up with from his past. Maybe his girlfriend's name was indeed Karin, or maybe it was just a random person he had met.

"Sakura..." he whispered the name again. The doctor's name was Sakura. How had he known her first name? Rina had called her Doctor Haruno. So where did Sakura come from? Maybe she was his doctor even before the accident which was why she knew about his medical records and such.

He let out a frustrated groan. Why had this happened to him? He wished he could just wake up tomorrow with all his memory intact. It would be better if this was actually just a bad dream, but he guessed that was too much to ask for.

What he wished the most was to have more memories of the girl. Just from one memory alone, he knew she was special to him.

He wondered where she was. Why hadn't she come to see him? Actually, why hasn't anyone come to visit him? Wasn't anyone concerned about him?

Rina returned back to his room with a tray of food. _Yuck_, he thought. He hated hospital food. He looked for the vanilla pudding cup she usually got for him, but there was none.

"Sorry, there wasn't anymore pudding left," Rina apologized when she noticed his disgruntled look.

"That's fine," he replied with a shrug. It was better he stopped eatting that anyway. All this vanilla nonsense was driving him insane. Then a thought appeared. "Hey, Rina, you think I can use your cell phone?"

* * *

Sakura was running down the hallway, nearly out of the breath by the time she reached his room. She was stunned at what she saw. The chairs were thrown to opposite sides of the room, the bed was flipped over. The heart monitor was knocked down, its cable wires tangled up. Two security guards were trying to detain Sasuke, but he was struggling back. He had blood dripping from his nose.

"What's going on here!?" Sakura demanded to know as she rushed into his room. One of the security guards quickly grabbd her arm and held her aside.

Rina stood off to the side, startled by all of this. She walked to Sakura and tried to explain, "His father came to visit him and he was talking to him for a long while, and all of sudden I heard Sasuke shouting and loud banging. He kept repeating his brother's name-"

Sakura was no longer listening, she understood all too quickly. It seemed that his father came to pay him a visit and told him about his mother's and brother's death. "Let go of me," Sakura ordered and the guard obeyed.

"Sasuke," she called his name as she neared him. "Sasuke, please stop struggling, you will only hurt yourself."

For a moment, Sasuke did stop moving as he heard her voice. She had such a lovely voice. But all too quickly, he put that aside and continued to fight off the guards. "They're dead!" he shouted towards her direction. "All this time...all this time...they're dead!"

Sakura finally reached him and placed her hands on either side of his face. "Sasuke, please, it's okay. It's going to be okay."

Sasuke froze at the contact of her warms hands on him. This time, he gave up. He couldn't fight any more. His legs were already trembling from standing up so long.

"It's alright, guys, let him go. I'll take care of it from here." With a cautious look, the guards left him in her care. She looked up at Sasuke, her hands still cupping his face. "It's okay, sweetheart, you're going to be fine," she said in a soothing tone, trying to ease him down from his anger.

Sasuke was breathing heavily from all the energy he used. His shoulders slumped down and he rested his forehead onto hers. "My family is gone," he muttered, as his eyes blurred with water.

One by one, tears rolled down his face.

For the first time, in a long time, Sasuke Uchiha cried.

* * *

Ah! We do hope you enjoyed reading so far! Again, Thank you all for the support. You are all awesome.

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(New Story, **The Empath** is posted. Your thoughts on that are always welcomed)


	4. Rainy Day

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, but we surely enjoy writing about these characters.

Summary: After a fatal car accident, police officer Sasuke Uchiha loses his memory. Now he is stuck with trying to recover the last few years of his life, while at he same time, move on with his future. Yet there were so many people around him trying to fill in memory gaps, one of them being his persistent Father. But there was one person that not once tried to tell him some sort of story from his past, and he wondered why she kept her distance from him. He was sure he knew her. And despite every other memory, it was the memories of her that he so desperately wanted to get back.

Rated T: for language and kissing and ...yeah... :)

* * *

**Remember Me**

By DreamDevourer and TiKanis

Chapter Four  
Rainy Day

Sasuke dialed his brother's phone number first.

"I'm sorry but the number you are trying to reach is out of service," an automatic response came.

He received the same message when he dialed his mother's number and the house.

"Maybe you dialed the number incorrectly," the ever so accommodating, Nurse Rina, said to him.

"Yeah…I guess," he replied, narrowing his eyes at the phone. The last person left to try was his father. For some unknown reason, he felt a deep urge of hatred arise within just by the mere thought of his father.

The phone rang, and immediately it was answered. _Of course, he's always punctual_, he thought.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"…Dad," Sasuke forced the word out of his mouth. What's gotten into him? "It's me, Sasuke," he added quickly.

There was a long pause and Sasuke found himself holding his breath.

"Yes, what is it that you want?"

Sasuke frowned, puzzled by his father's directness.

"I was trying to reach Itachi and Mom, but it seems their phone numbers have changed," he explained. His grip on the phone tightened.

There was another pause and some incoherent muttering. "Are you drunk?" his father asked.

"Come again? Drunk? No, Dad, why would I be?" Sasuke responded, confused by his father's blunt tone. "Look, I was in an accident a few weeks ago. I woke up from my coma a couple days ago. The doctor said I couldn't have any visitors yet, which is probably why you guys haven't come to see me, but I just wanted to talk to Itachi and Mom, to see how they were doing."

Sasuke was greeted with another long pause. It irritated him to no end. "So is she home right now? May I talk to her?"

"What kind of accident? Where are you? And why hasn't anyone notified me of this?" his father demanded, his tone was so brusque that it simply fueled to Sasuke's hatred. Yet, he couldn't understand why.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "A car accident, Dad. And I'm at the hospital. I'm not sure why no one informed you. Is Mom with you? Can you put her on the phone?" Sasuke pleaded. He never had such a dire need to speak to his mother as he had now. He felt like he hadn't seen her in years and he could barely put a face to her name in his mind.

"You said you were in a coma for weeks? What were the damages from accident?"

"Umm…Some memory loss," Sasuke bowed his head. How he wished he never had that accident. He felt as lost as mouse in a maze. "Along with some broken bones and cuts."

"I see," came his father's distant response. "I'm on my way to the hospital—"

"No, Dad, wait. I can't have visitors for another few weeks. I only called to talk to—"

"Your mother, yes, I know. It's better I come in tell you in person."

His stomach turned. Why did have a sudden feel of dread? "Tell me what?" he asked but his father already hung up. "Dammit!" he growled, glaring at the phone.

"Visiting hours end at eight, it's nearly seven now," Rina informed him as he handed the phone back. "And I don't think they will allow him to come see you. You are on the strict-no-visiting-list until the end of next week."

"Hn. You don't know my dad. He always gets his way." Sasuke looked at the palm of his hand. The phone had left imprinted lines on his palm. He hadn't realized how tight his hold on the phone was. What was wrong with him?

* * *

To say he was shocked was not quite the right description. Sasuke was more bewildered at his father's appearance. He had wrinkles on his forehead and at the corner of his eyes. His dark hair had streaks of white lines in them. He had a cane to help him walk. How had his father aged so much?

"I had a stroke a few years back, left me with a weak leg," his father explained as if knowing Sasuke was going to ask about it.

"You look…" Sasuke began to say, but couldn't find the right word to use. His father used to stand up tall, and confident. Now he hunched over, walked with a cane, and had more grey hair than a person at the age of fifty-four should have.

"The world has had a different effect on each of us," his father concluded for him as he took a seat near the bed.

Sasuke simply nodded and stared at the television that hung on the wall. It was quiet for a few minutes. He felt his father's eyes on him, but he didn't turn to meet his gaze. "I was hoping Mom or Itachi were coming to see me as well."

His father sighed. "You really don't remember any of it, do you?"

Sasuke turned his head towards his father. His heartbeat was slowly increasing in pace as he gripped the blanket that laid on his lap. "Remember what?"

His father bowed his head.

"Remember what?" Sasuke repeated more sternly.

"Your brother died ten years ago, and your mother four years later."

So that was the fear that had built inside him for the past few days? He had wondered why no one called for him, and somewhere deep inside, he had a feeling that there was no one out there left who cared for him. The heart monitor grew louder as his heart rhythm changed. His shoulders slumped down as he shook his head.

"Is this some sort of joke!?" He shouted at his father. "How could Itachi be dead!? And Mom? There's no fucking way! Give me your phone, I want to talk to them right now!" He demanded and reached out his hand for the phone.

Expecting this sort of outburst from his son, his father handed him his cellphone, and patiently waited as Sasuke scrolled down the list of contacts, but their names weren't listed.

Sasuke's heart felt like it was on fire. A headache was beginning to form as he traced his memories for any signs of their deaths. He found nothing. He remembered being in high school, and Itachi was still in his memories at the time, but afterwards, he couldn't picture him. His mother, he recalled seeing while in college, but again, no memories after that.

Sasuke threw the phone against the wall, it crashed to the floor.

The sudden act caused his father to stand up and move away.

"Why can't I remember them!? How could they have died!? They were fine when I last saw them!" He was yelling at his father as he detached the IV from his arm and started pulling off the wires that attached him to the heart monitor.

He felt dizzy from all the movement, but ignored it as he placed his feet on the cold, tiled floor. He grabbed the bed from the side and flipped it over in outrage. Next was the tray that held his unfinished food. He knocked the food onto the floor, along with the water pitcher. He flung the tray across the room. It landed with a loud metal clunk.

"Stop looking at me like that!" He growled at his father, who was stepping away from him with fear. "I don't remember anything! Don't you understand!? I don't remember them! I don't remember being with them! Where was I!?"

"I will tell you, you just need to calm down, you—"

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

He was getting ready to throw the chair next, when Rina rushed into the room with three security guards, one of whom was leading his father away.

* * *

Sakura sat in her office with her head on the desk, pillowed by her arms. He had said her name, she was sure of it.

"_Who gave you that bracelet, Sakura_?" he had asked her. At the moment, she hadn't questioned it because she was used to him saying her name. Only now, that she was alone in her office, with time to think, did she realize that the only way Sasuke would've known her first name was if he remembered it himself.

Her lips formed a small smile. Remembering her name wasn't much, but it meant that there was a chance he could recall more.

Sakura hadn't realized she had dozed off until she heard Rina's voice call for security over the intercom. She pushed her chair away and ran out her room.

* * *

"Sasuke." His ears perked up at the call of his name. He turned his attention to the doctor that was being held aside by one of the security guards. "Sasuke, please stop struggling, you will only hurt yourself." She shrugged away from guard and walked towards him.

She had such lovely voice. It was so angelic; it brought some peace to his mind. But nothing would change the fact that his brother and mother were dead.

One guard held him by his broken arm while the other was trying to force his good arm behind his back, and bring him to his knees. "They're dead!" he shouted towards her direction. "All this time...all this time...they're dead!"

She stood right in front of him. Her eyes were full of concern. He didn't think there was anyone left that cared about him…but she cared. "Sasuke, please, it's okay. It's going to be okay." She gently placed her warm hands on either side of his face, causing him to freeze. He didn't understand how her touch had such a soothing impact on him.

It was time he gave up on his fight. His legs were trembling; he was close to collapsing onto the floor.

"It's alright, guys, let him go. I'll take care of it from here." The guards obeyed her and released his arms. He winced at the pain that came from his broken arm. "It's okay, sweetheart, you're going to be fine."

Fine? No, he was never again going to be_ fine_.

Sasuke's breathing was unsteady from all the energy he used. His shoulders slumped down and he rested his forehead onto hers. "My family is gone," he mumbled.

A memory of a rainy day came to mind. Everyone had left the cemetery, except for him. He stood alone as he stared at the new headstone that was placed beside his brother's. He remembered feeling alone and lost. He remembered the feeling of agony from losing someone he loved. The rain had hid his tears then, but there was no rain to shield him now.

One by one, his tears fell. He couldn't remember them. What was he going to do now? He had nothing to look forward to and no one turn to for help.

The last thing he thought about before he collapsed was of a girl, and her laugh. It was so pleasant and sincere; it had freed him from his misery in the past. His vision darkened just when her face was starting to become clearer. _I'll find you_, he promised.

* * *

"Do you have any idea what you could've done to him? Sasuke could've been on the operating table right now due to a punctured heart or lung because of his fractured ribs," Sakura stated bluntly as she walked into the office of the hospital's Head Department.

Tsunade sat at her desk and Sasuke's father sat across from her.

"Sak—Dr. Haruno, please have a seat," Tsunade told her and gave her a cautious look.

Sakura ignored it. She stood at the side of the table, glaring down at the old man.

"My son has been a coma for almost four weeks, and no one notified me, his only family? What kind of hospital is this?" Fukagu said in an eerily stoic tone, similar to one Sasuke used when he was at work.

"It's procedure to notify whomever he has listed as his emergency contact, which we have done so," Tsunade replied while opening Sasuke's file.

"And whom may that be that? That nitwit partner of his? And his girlfriend?" Fukagu sneered as he gave Sakura a dirty look. "I'm his father! I had the right to know what's become of my son."

"The specialist that's treating him didn't give him rights to visitors due to his weak stability. He has only been awake for four days. With his fragile mind, anything could go wrong, as you witnessed firsthand."

The old man pressed his lips into a thin line and narrowed his eyes at the blonde woman. "I will have him transferred to better facility, away from this city—"

"You can't do that!" Sakura snapped. She knew was over stepping her boundaries, but couldn't contain herself.

Tsunade cleared her throat, another subtle warning for Sakura. "Mr. Uchiha, your son has a great team of doctors that are looking after him. If you think you will find a better specialist somewhere else, you're mistaken. We have the best doctors on staff, and your son has shown a significant amount of improvement in a matter of days. All he needs now is to wait until his body heals up," she informed him as she gave him a file of the doctors that were treating Sasuke.

"Significant improvement? He has no memory of his past, what kind of improvement is that?" he scowled.

"His mind is a different matter. As I told you when you first came to the office, your son has amnesia due to the accident. Whatever memories he gains back is not up to you or me, or anyone else. That's something he will have to deal with on his own terms."

"He doesn't recall the death of his brother nor mother, what else doesn't he remember?" he inquired, leaning back into the chair.

Tsunade sighed. She knew she shouldn't be giving out too much information, especially since the man wasn't even on the patient's contact list. But she was well aware that the old man would go to great lengths to get his answers, especially since he had the power and wealth to do so.

"He doesn't recall anything other than his days in high school and some years of college," she replied, ignoring Sakura's angry glare.

"I see…" he muttered as his mind went about to work on a plan. "And of his police work? Does he know how exactly he got into the accident?"

"No, he was told it was a car accident, but no specific details as of yet."

"I see," he repeated and stood up. "I will be back tomorrow to see him." With that said, he walked out the room.

"You shouldn't have told him so much information," Sakura scolded her mentor.

"And what else would you have me do? He is his father, like it or not. And has the power to buy this hospital if he thought that would get him more control of his son. Just stay out of his way," Tsunade warned.

"You don't know Sasuke's relationship with his father. He will use Sasuke's amnesia to his benefit," Sakura stated, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Should he jeopardize the patients' health, then we intervene as doctors, Sakura. But keep your personal relationship aside until he is no longer in our care," Tsunade told her as she put Sasuke's file back into the cabinet. "Now, go home. You look like crap."

With a grim look, Sakura walked out the room.

* * *

It was nearly midnight, but she still roamed the hospital. If she went home, she would be alone in her misery. If she stayed here, she was full of heartache, but at least Sasuke was not too far away.

She opened the door and peered into his room. She expected him to be asleep, but he was up, watching the news channel.

Sasuke turned his focus to the young woman that stood by the door. "Hi," he greeted in a low voice.

She smiled at him, but it left her face as quickly as it appeared.

"Don't you ever sleep?" he inquired as she stepped into the room with her hands in her lab coat.

She gave him a light chuckle in response."I should ask you the same thing." She took a seat beside him.

"Hn." There was a moment of silence as his attention went back to the television. He turned it off and placed the remote on the stand beside his bed.

"Why do doctors always tell their patients to get more rest, when they, themselves, don't heed their own advice?" he asked, frowning. She really looked exhausted. He wondered for how long she overworked herself and whether or not it was a daily routine of hers.

Sakura simply shrugged, unsure of where he was taking this.

"And if a person, much less a doctor, doesn't follow their own advice, then what's the point in trusting them?" he inquired with an emotionless face.

Sakura bit the bottom of her lip. "Sasuke—"

"All this time, you knew they were dead, didn't you?" His voice was so accusing, it pained her. She was never at the end of his hatred.

She nodded slowly and gazed up at the heart monitor. The beats were increasing but in a steady motion.

"And yet you thought it was best for me to continue believing I actually had a family waiting for me?"

She frowned. Gone was the confused man, replaced by the persona of Officer Uchiha. Yet he didn't even know where he got this questioning personality. "It wasn't my call to inform you of anything, Sasuke. The neurologist that treated you thought it best to leave you be while you healed. He was afraid you would jeopardize the healing process by forcibly regaining any traumatic memories," she explained.

His dark eyes narrowed at her. "One thing I hate most, Dr. Haruno, is to be treated like a child, so spare me the lecture."

Sakura tried her best to hide her shock. This was the old Sasuke talking. The cold, distant man she met the first day at the hospital. The man that Naruto was pleased to see disappear once she came into his life. This wasn't her Sasuke. This was a man lost in his misery all over again. It hurt to think that he now had to relive the life he hated. He was back in his dark world.

Sasuke felt a bit guilty that he was acting so nasty to her. It felt normal to scold her and be angry, but at the same time, he didn't want to hate her. No, the last thing he wanted to do was hate this doctor, but he couldn't help his primitive instincts. He didn't like secrets and he most definitely didn't like being lied to.

Was this the man he had been before? This easily tempered, quick to hate and judge, sort of man? If so, he was sure the doctor didn't like it, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. He sighed and tried to ease his stiff composure.

He closed his eyes. "Will you tell me how they died?" he muttered.

Once again, she was taken by surprise at how quickly he could change. Now he was back to the same man that woke up a few days ago. He was lost and confused. She reached out for his hand, but quickly rethought her gesture. She kept her hands clasped together on her lap. "I'm not aware of how they died," she lied.

She wasn't going to be the one to torment him with the news, no matter how angry or persistent he was.

"Hn."

It was quiet for a moment. Sakura wasn't sure if he fell asleep all of a sudden or he was dismissing her with his lack of response. Either way, it seemed he had grown weary of her. She eased up out of her chair and walked away.

"Sakura," he called out, causing her to stop halfway to the door.

With a light smile, she turned around to meet his gaze. She hadn't imagined it earlier, he really did remember her name. He sat up on his bed and waited for her to return the chair next to him.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

Her brow's furrowed as she shrugged. "It wasn't your fault. Post-trauma can cause anyone to act that way. And no damages were done, other than the damages you inflicted on your own body."

"Hn." He stared up at the white ceiling. "No, I'm not talking about that, although I'm sorry about that as well. I'm apologizing for what I did earlier when I kis—"

"Don't worry about it, it was nothing," Sakura quickly interjected. She felt her cheeks grow warm.

A small smirk appeared on his face as he leaned back on his bed. The doctor was trying her best to stay composed, but the blush told a different story. He had caught her off guard. "It was something. I'm just sorry for the way it went, that's all," he muttered. She looked like a helpless kitten that needed to be held and taken care of.

"Ah, it's fine," she replied shortly after, her eyes were glued to the floor. She wasn't sure what exactly he was trying to say, nor was she courageous enough to ask.

"By the way, you did a terrible job bandaging me. I could hardly breathe when I woke up an hour ago. At least Nurse Rina gives me some room to breathe."

This time, her face turned red with anger, not embarrassment. "What do you mean I did a terrible job!? Your binds are supposed to be tightly wrapped around your chest so that your ribs can heal properly. And your arm is broken, so it has to be held in place. And if it weren't for your unruly hair, than maybe your head bandage would actually stay in place—"

His laugh caused her to pause. She hadn't heard that laugh in weeks. She was afraid that he wouldn't ever laugh again in her presence, but there he was, laughing at her.

"Oh, please, no more. Stop making me laugh, it hurts," he begged with a twinkle of amusement.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What's so funny about you accusing me of being a terrible doctor?"

"I didn't say you were a terrible doctor. I said you did a terrible job bandaging me," he corrected as his laugh died down, but the amused look remained.

"Che. Whatever," she grumbled.

"Now, why aren't you asking me how I knew it was you that wrapped me up like this?" he mused, causing her to raise a questionable eyebrow.

After he had passed out from his outburst earlier, she had taken the opportunity to redress his bandages. "Humor me, then Sasuke, how did you know?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm.

That smirk of his disappeared and his eyes were distant, he was lost in his thoughts. "You seem like the type of doctor that would really take care of her patients. When I woke up and had difficulty sitting up, I knew something was off. So I looked at my bandages and they were wrapped around me with such perfection, it amazed me. Every wrap around me was precisely layered half an inch lower than the next, and just as equally tightened. I knew Rina couldn't have done it, so I thought of you right away. You either are very talented at your job, or you really didn't want me to move once I woke up, either way, thank you for taking the time to watch over me."

Sakura's mouth was ajar. Sasuke was never the wordy type nor was he one to compliment so easily, much less say thank you. "I-uh-you're welcome, I guess."

"Hn." He closed his eyes again.

"Well, looks like you want to sleep so I will leave—"

His eyes opened quickly. "No, don't go yet, please. I'm just thinking." With his eye shut again, he let out a sigh. For a moment, he forgot all about his worries.

Sakura sighed. The past three days, she hadn't come to check on him at night. She wondered if he had even slept during those nights. She felt guilty for leaving him alone in his darkness.

She wondered if she should ask what he was thinking about, but decided not to. Placing her elbow on the arm of the chair, she rested her head on her hand. He was quite and his breathing was steady. She was sure he had already dozed off to sleep.

Sasuke finally was at ease. He wanted to thank her for giving him reason to laugh because he didn't think he could ever do so after finding out about his family. He wanted to thank her for bringing some light into the dark pit he had fallen into. But he didn't have the energy to reopen his eyes. He was exhausted. No longer able to fight off the sleep that loomed over him, he drifted into a deep dream.

In it, he dreamt of a girl and their first kiss on a rainy day in the park.

Sakura leaned over him and kissed his forehead. "Sweet dreams," she whispered and left the room.

_To be continued..._


	5. For the Best

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, but we surely enjoy writing about these characters.

Summary: After a fatal car accident, police officer Sasuke Uchiha loses his memory. Now he is stuck with trying to recover the last few years of his life, while at he same time, move on with his future. Yet there were so many people around him trying to fill in memory gaps, one of them being his persistent Father. But there was one person that not once tried to tell him some sort of story from his past, and he wondered why she kept her distance from him. He was sure he knew her. And despite every other memory, it was the memories of her that he so desperately wanted to get back.

Rated T: for language and kissing and ...yeah... :)

* * *

**Remember Me**

By DreamDevourer and TiKanis

Chapter Five  
For the Best

Sasuke tried his best to not show how nervous he was when his father stepped into the room and sat in the chair beside him. He wasn't sure how to greet him either. '_Hi Dad, how are you? How's the business?'_ That would've been a normal thing to say, but for some reason; those words wouldn't come out of his mouth. He stared at the television instead, pretending to be engrossed in the talk show.

"I do apologize for yesterday," Fukagu said, breaking the silence that loomed for well over ten minutes. Sasuke didn't turn to face him; he kept his gaze on the television. One thing he remembered clearly-his father was never the type to apologize. "I wasn't fully aware of your weak mental stability. I should've listened to what the nurse had said before I spoke to you."

_Weak_, that word crawled up Sasuke's skin. He hated being called weak. He wished he knew why he was so on edge. Why did he feel like putting his fist in his father's face? '_Calm down',_ he repeatedly told himself.

Sasuke turned the television off and finally turned to look at his father. "Did you come back to test my _weak_ stability, Dad? Or have you actually come to visit me out of the goodness of your heart?" he bluntly stated.

Fugaku twitched and his grip on his cane tightened to the point where his knuckles turned white. His lips pressed into a thin line, and it was quiet for another brief moment. Sasuke knew he hit some sort of nerve with his comment, and he quite frankly didn't care.

"Well then, you might as well finish the news you started yesterday. Go ahead, tell me how they died," Sasuke demanded, but this time in a softer tone. He wasn't sure why he was being temperamental with his moods. One moment he's ready to attack someone, and then the next, he's kinder and more considerate of their feelings.

Fugaku cleared his throat and leaned back in his seat, resting the cane against his leg. "There's not much to tell. Itachi died in a car accident. He was driving home on a rainy day, and a drunk driver collided with his car. His car toppled over the bridge, and he drowned. Your mother was sick, something the doctors couldn't cure. She passed away a week after you graduated from college."

Sasuke felt every bit of him die inside. He didn't think it was possible for a heart to hurt so much. It felt like it was being squeezed and weighed down. The burning sensation in his chest was worse. He shut his eyes and leaned his head against the bed. '_Breathe,_' he told himself. '_Just breathe.'_

"I don't remember mother ever being sick," he retorted.

"No one knew, she did a good job hiding her sickness from us."

Sasuke felt his eyes blur up, but he be damned if he cried again.

"I know this is hard for you, and what you are going through must be difficult—"

"I doubt you have any idea of what I'm going through!" Sasuke snapped. "You come in here, and watch me as you tell me the wretched fucking news of my brother and mother being dead. What are you studying me for? What kind of reaction are you hoping I would give you!? Because right now, I'm not myself! Okay? I don't know how to react. I don't know what to say. I don't know if how I'm behaving now is how I was in the past. My mind is foggy and I can't sleep because I'm afraid of what nightmares I will have. I keep hearing gun fires in my head and arguments that I can't make-out clearly. You have no idea what it's like to be empty inside and not remember your life! So, please spare me the supposed sympathy you have for me, because you don't know how it feels like to be in my place!"

Sasuke was breathing heavily. He shocked himself at what just blurted out of his mouth. He had more respect for his father than the way he was treating him at the moment. In fact, he never yelled at his father, much less argued. He shouldn't have snapped like that. He knew he had more self-control. What on earth was the matter with him?

"I-uh-I'm sorry," he mumbled, easing himself back down in the bed.

His father didn't even look phased from his outburst. "We both lost the people we care about, Sasuke," his father said with a faraway gaze. He was lost in his thoughts, remembering a spring afternoon when a police officer had come to his office to inform him that his son had drowned.

'_The witnesses saw him drive directly off the bridge; it was a suicide, Sir.'_ And then, years past, he had found his wife in bed, pale and cold. The doctor had told him that she had overdosed on her depression pills. She too, had committed suicide. What was he left with afterwards? A young boy, who hated him and blamed him for their deaths'.

_'If it weren't for you, Itachi wouldn't have killed himself! You forced him to be someone he didn't want to be. And you never cared for mom. You drove her to insanity! Good luck with your miserable life because I'm done with you!'_

In those seven years, he hadn't heard a word from Sasuke. The plan was that once he finished college, Sasuke would work for him, but the death of his mother turned him into a different person. He joined the police academy and became a police officer. Now, he was in the hospital with more than half his memory gone all because of that job. He could've been dead.

Fugaku had a chance now. A chance to get back the son he lost to all those tragedies. Even if it meant bending the truth and twisting the stories, he would regain his son's loyalty and trust.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Sasuke repeated, a bit uncomfortable with the lack of response from his father.

Fugaku gazed back at him with a weary smile. It left his face as quickly as it had appeared; which didn't surprise Sasuke. His father was never one to smile. "It's okay, Sasuke. It's not your fault. None of what happened was your fault. So let's just forget about it, and start anew. Shall I tell you about your present life?"

Sasuke's brow narrowed. It never occurred to him to ask his father about his life now. But maybe it would be a good thing if someone filled him in. Maybe some memories would return if he had some information. He nodded slowly and stared at the ceiling, as he listened to his father.

Apparently he finished college with top grades and helped his father run the business. The business extended its markets not only in finance, but in marketing and real estate. According to his father, Sasuke helped the business grow tremendously. They had a large range of clients. Sasuke had a lot of friends at the office whom were all awaiting his return.

"You do have a life outside this hospital, Sasuke. And although everything seems foreign to you right now, you will get the hang of it. Whether or not you remember the past, it doesn't matter, you can make new memories," his father finished. His voice reigned of confidence, making Sasuke believe every word of it. "So whenever you are ready, I can have you discharged from the hospital and you can rest at home, where you belong."

"Leave the hospital?" Sasuke asked more himself than his father. It felt weird to know that he would in fact, have to leave the hospital soon. He found this room to be his safe haven, away from the harshness of the world and the life he couldn't remember.

He had hoped what his father had recounted for him, would jolt some sort of memory, but still, nothing happened. He simply nodded at everything his father said, absorbing all the information.

"Why, of course. You can't stay here forever. I can have you discharged right now, if you want. And we can go home and you can move on with your life," his father looked all too pleased with the idea.

_'Leave the hospital?'_ Sasuke thought again. If he left, he would be in a warm, comfortable bed. He would get to eat gourmet food, not the crappy hospital meals. He had an endless amount of t.v shows he could watch, not just the lame twelve channels they offered in the hospital.

There was one thing he wouldn't have at home that he had at the hospital. And that was the peaceful vibe he felt every time he saw the doctor. _Sakura. _If he left he would probably never see her again. For some reason, that thought unsettled him. No, he wasn't ready to leave just yet.

"Not yet, I still have broken bones that need to be looked after constantly by the doctor." A lame excuse, but Sasuke couldn't help it. He wasn't ready to face the real world and he wasn't ready to leave her. He wanted to know her better. Especially now that he found out she kept him company every night while he was in his coma. Rina had let that little information slip this morning when he mocked her about her bad bandaging skills compared to Sakura's.

_'Che, Sasuke. She's more skilled at what she does, that's why she's the best doctor. And you're lucky to have her to keep an eye on you. Did you know she spent almost every night looking after you when you were in a coma? But shhh, you didn't hear it from me.'_

"I can get a private doctor to live in the house with us—"

"No, I'm fine here," Sasuke interjected more sternly and his father sighed, choosing not to argue with him on that matter.

"Fine, for now. But the moment your ribs are healed and you can move without pain, then I'm taking you home," he replied.

"Hn." Sasuke closed his eyes again. He was tired and it was only noon. His father was giving him a headache without even knowing. Shortly after, Sasuke asked out of the blue, "Hey Dad, am I engaged or something?"

Fugaku remained quiet.

"I mean, do I have a girlfriend that you may know of?" Sasuke quickly added.

Fugaku's brow rose in interest. All this time, his son didn't know about his girlfriend? That doctor didn't tell him? Well, that was shocking. He had assumed the first thing the girl would do was tell him who she was. In fact, he was surprised the girl didn't even fill in any part of Sasuke's past memories. He couldn't comprehend what was holding the girl back from revealing anything to Sasuke.

"No, not that I know of," Fugaku replied with a shrug. If the doctor wasn't going to say anything, then neither was he. Actually, it was better that way. She would end up complicating everything and possibly even stealing his son away from him. "Why, do you remember someone?" he inquired.

Sasuke was silent for a brief moment, recalling his dream from last night. He never saw the girl in complete form, but he had images of her smile and her slender neck, not to mention seeing her naked back as she lay in bed with him, while he held her as they fell asleep. But he wasn't going to share that with his father.

"No, just making sure, that's all." And that was the end of it.

Another long silence dawned on them. Sasuke was itching to turn the television back on, just to make it less awkward, but at the same time, he didn't want to show his dad that he was uncomfortable yet again with him. Not too long after, he realized he had one more important question to ask.

"Do you know anything about the weird wounds I have? They look like gunshot wounds. I haven't had the chance to ask the doctors, but I assume you would know."

"Gunshot wounds?" his father questioned, a bit taken back.

"Yeah, I noticed two on my thighs and some on various places on my upper body while one of the nurses bandaged me this morning," Sasuke informed him. He was puzzled at why his father looked surprised and had no response for a brief moment.

"Ah, yes. Those…" he started to say, then paused. "How could I have forgotten? Yes, yes, they are wounds you encountered when you were in the army. You joined the army for three years, after college."

"So I wasn't there when mom died?" Sasuke quickly asked, confused.

"No, you were. Your mom died a week after you graduated, as I told you earlier. Then you joined the army for a few years, and then you came back to work with me."

Sasuke noticed the sweat developing at the corner of father's forehead. Earlier, his father had told him he had worked for him right after college, now he was telling him that he was in the army for a few years and then he worked for him? Joining the army was something major to leave out from the story in the beginning.

"I'm old, Sasuke, I forget things," his father said, as if reading his mind.

"Hn." Sasuke saw no point in further inquiring after it, since he couldn't remember anything. Well, that was slightly incorrect. He did remember the sounds of weapons being fired and he remembered the feeling of holding a gun. It was terrifying yet exhilarating. So he was in the army? Guess that explained why he was so muscular. Though, he didn't ever remember liking to exercise in high school nor in college, not to mention that joining the army was never his desire.

There was a knock at the door and a young woman dressed in a suit stepped inside. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Uchiha, if we don't leave now, you will miss your meeting."

"Ah, yes. That's fine. I'm finished here." Fuagku stood up and looked down at his son. "Once you are ready, you will be joining me in these meetings, just like old times," he said, fondly.

Sasuke tried to give him a smile, but couldn't bring himself to do so. He simply nodded and said, "Yeah, just like old times." Only, he couldn't recall those _old times_. "Bye Dad."

His father nodded and left.

* * *

"Sakura! What the hell is this bullshit!"

Sakura instantly looked up and glared at the young blonde that stood in the doorway of her office.

"_Naruto,_" she growled. "Keep your voice down and watch what you say, there are young children in this hospital!"

"Whatever," he grumbled and walked into her office. He placed his hands on her desk and looked directly in her eyes. "You were supposed to have called me the moment he woke up! And now security tells me I can't visit him?"

"You're giving me a headache, Naruto. I have a surgery to do in one hour, I don't need this right now," Sakura replied.

"Sakura…he's been awake for five freaking days and you didn't as much send me a text," Naruto said, his voice lowering a bit.

Sakura sighed as she rubbed the side of her forehead. "Naruto, I called the station the first day he woke up and they said you were busy with a case. I called the next day, and apparently you were doing some sort of important undercover investigation. After that, it escaped my mind, I've been really busy here with back to back patients," she said with an apologetic look. "Though you should blame your Captain, since I left him a message to give you."

He eased down into the seat by the desk and let out a deep breath. "Yeah, tell me about it. We've been jammed packed at the station too. They gave me some rooky partner in place of Sasuke. A few times I was scared he was going to shoot me. He can barely hold the gun steady! And I don't know why more crimes happen in the winter, it's too fucking cold to be chasing criminals!"

Sakura chuckled lightly. "Trust me, it hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine on my end either. It's what the doctor had predicted the first day, Sasuke woke up with amnesia. He recalls a lot from when he was younger until college, but after that it's blank. What was worse, he couldn't remember his brother or mother being dead, until his father stopped by yesterday and gave him the news."

"What!?" Naruto gasped in surprise at what she just told him. "Oh shit, how did he take that?"

"He broke everything in the room and was fighting off two security guards. It was quite terrifying to see him like that. He calmed down shortly after I talked to him. I haven't seen him this morning yet, though. "

"Let's go see him now then!" Naruto chimed, all too pleased with the idea of finally seeing his best friend.

Sakura was silent for a brief moment as she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. "Naruto…there's this other thing. What his father did yesterday was out of regulation. We can't force him to recall things because we aren't sure how his mind will adapt. Thankfully, he didn't cause himself too much bodily harm when he was fighting with the guards, but who knows what he will do next if he learns about other traumatic events in his life—"

"Wait, I'm confused. So you're saying that I can't help him remember anything? What kind of crap is that? How else is he going to remember and go back to his normal self? I need my partner back ASAP!" Naruto cut in abruptly.

"You can visit him, Naruto. But don't go in there in hopes of helping him with his memory. Let him adjust on his own, and if he asks you questions, you can either deny or validate that it's correct or not, just don't start off with stories from the past. Take it easy on him. Okay?"

"I see…so we have to wait for him to regain everything on his own? But that's impossible! It will take him forever! I can't be stuck with that rookie a moment longer!"

"Naruto," she said his name in warning. "I'm not the doctor in charge of him. I'm relaying you the same rules everyone has to follow."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, finally taking a moment to study his best friend's girlfriend. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, her bangs framed her face. She looked paler than usual, and if you looked closely, you can see the dark circles that were forming under her eyes.

"When was the last time you had some decent sleep, Sakura?" Naruto asked in his serious police-voice.

She shrugged in response. She couldn't recall when she actually had a full six-hour sleep.

"You look stressed out as hell," he remarked, causing her to shrug again. And then it hit Naruto, as he pieced together what she was saying a few minutes ago. "He doesn't remember you, does he?"

The sincerity in his voice caused her to choke back her tears.

"And you haven't even told him?"

She slowly shook her head, not able to find her voice to speak.

"Why not?! I understand if I don't say anything or his other friends, but _you_? Sakura, he loves you. If he finds out later on who you are, and that you've never told him, he's going to be pissed."

She wiped away the one tear that fell down her cheeks. "It's more complicated than you think," she muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, I understand the whole rule about not helping him remember things while he's still in the beginning stage of his recovery. Blah Blah Blah. Honestly Sakura, I doubt it would cause him any harm in remembering you. If I tell him about his police work and the people he's had to kill and what not, that will probably be hard on him, so I won't do that. But at least he should know about you. It would probably keep him in peace. He's had a tough life, and the last thing he deserves is to believe he is alone."

Sakura hated how guilty he was making her feel about not being truthful with Sasuke, and for not being there to console him. She desperately wanted to tell Sasuke, but how could she now? Wouldn't he wonder why she hadn't told him the first day? He would question her why she waited all this time to tell him. And what if he remembers the dreadful things she had said to him? Maybe she could apologize and say it was a mistake—that she didn't mean any of that?

Naruto watched her carefully. It seemed she was lost in her thoughts. She was staring at the stapler on the desk, not once blinking. There was something more to the story then what she was letting out.

"Okay, that's it! Tell me what happened that night," he demanded, causing her to jump in her seat.

"I don't know what you—"

"Sakura, that's enough. My best friend is in the hospital with amnesia all because of that fucking accident that shouldn't have happened. He's too good to pull that rookie stunt, unless he wasn't focused on his job. I want you to tell me right now or I'm going straight to his room and telling him everything I know." He threatened her.

Sakura angrily stood up and glared down at him. He had no right to meddle with her life, much less threaten her! Then again, who was she kidding? Naruto was like a brother to Sasuke. Of course he would care for him and would want to protect him. She was the reason for what happened to Sasuke, and Naruto knew it. What was the point in hiding it anymore?

"It was my fault! Okay!?" she blurted out. Her lips trembled and her shoulders slumped down. "He came home that night, and I yelled at him. I told him I hated him and that I never wanted to see him again, and he stormed off, angry." She covered her face with one hand to hide her tears from Naruto.

"Wh-what? Why? I thought you two were—"

"Were what? Naruto? Huh? We were perfect together?" she snapped. "Yeah, I thought so too, until it became a routine of him leaving me constantly for his job!"

"Sakura, we're police officers, it's our job to always be on call and ready if they need us," Naruto tried to reason, but unsure of what to really say at what she had admitted. He had never imagined she would leave Sasuke.

"Don't you think I know that? I'm not stupid, Naruto! I understand how important your job is! But when I see you and Hinata together, it makes me feel worse. You always make time for her, but Sasuke would always choose his job over me."

"That's not true at all! He loves you more then you know! Every time we are working on an important investigation, he tries his best to finish the case early, so he can go back home to you," Naruto defended.

"Then why does it seem that he's never home? Why am I always waiting for him to show up and he never does?"

She hadn't realized how fast Naruto was. One moment he was in his seat and the next he was holding her.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," he muttered, hugging her tightly. "But all I know is that Sasuke never smiled or told jokes in all the years he was my partner, until he met you. He practically lived in the police station, but you were his reason for going home and to have something to look forward to."

Sakura burst into tears. Naruto's comment only made her feel worse for what she had done.

"I should've talked it out with him, but I'm not good at that. And he isn't either. So I let it build up until I finally had enough and I told him I wanted nothing to do with him anymore," she said in the midst of her crying. "And then next thing I know, I'm in the hospital, praying to God that he would make it out okay."

"You can still tell him…" Naruto said softly.

"What if he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore, once he remembers? I won't be able to take that—"

"So you think it's best to not tell him at all?! You know that's completely unfair to him!" Naruto let her go and took a step backwards.

"Maybe it's better if he remembers on his own," she whispered, looking down at the floor.

"And if he doesn't?!"

"Then it would be fates way of giving us a way to separate. He wouldn't be hurt if he doesn't remember, and I will move on. That was the whole idea of breaking up anyways. For us to move on with our lives, and not be trapped in the cycle that was going nowhere," she said, her head still bowed.

"So he doesn't remember now, but what if he remembers later on? A year from now? Then what?" Naruto wanted to grab her and shake some sense to her. She was taking the cowardly way out of this. Sasuke deserved better than what she was planning to do. Sasuke deserved a fighting chance. Naruto knew that Sasuke would never forgive him if he didn't try to talk some sense into Sakura.

Sakura sighed, looking at the clock on the wall. "Then I'll be here, if he wants to come back, but I won't go back to the way we were," was all she said as she walked to the door.

Naruto followed behind. "Where are you going?"

"I'm showing you to his room and then I have to go get ready for the surgery," she said sternly.

Naruto followed behind her, his hands in his pockets. "You're being unfair to him," he said, loud enough for her to hear.

Sakura kept on walking. She knew she was being unfair, but at the same time, she wasn't courageous enough to relive that conversation with him. She had broken up with him in efforts to move on with her life. She loved him, but she wasn't going anywhere with him. Did he want to marry her? Did he want a family with her? No, that conversation was never brought up. Then what was the point of staying together if there was no future?

She had desperately wanted him to remember her, in hopes that they can repair their relationship, but as the days went by, she realized that there was no point in praying for such a thing, when all the while, she had meant to leave him anyways. Once he regained his memories, he would go back to his job, and behave the same as always. Nothing new would've come out of it. It was better she didn't say anything. He wouldn't be hurt in anyway if he never remembers. It would take her a long time to get over her heartache, but eventually, she would move on as well.

So this would be the end of their relationship.

She would oversee his healing process, and the moment he was discharged, she would move on. It sounded simple enough, but she knew she was going to cry every night for him. Though, wasn't that how all breakups ended? She was never in love before, until she met him, so this feeling was new to her.

"Sakura, please, let's just talk to him, and figure this out. You two can work it out," Naruto chimed as he quickened his steps to walk side by side with her.

"Naruto, as I said, I broke up with him. We weren't going anywhere with our relationship. I will never forgive myself for being the cause of his accident, and I had selfishly hoped he would remember me, because I do love him, but it's become clear to me now, that it's for the best that he doesn't remember me. We can move on now. It's for the best." Sakura replied, staring straight ahead with her chin held high.

He muttered something under his breath that Sakura couldn't hear, but she didn't care much to ask him to repeat what he said.

"Alright, so this is his room," she said. Her heart was already increasing in pace as she stopped by the opened door. She heard Sasuke talking to the nurse about the weather and chances of snow.

"Great…are you going to come in with me?" Naruto pleaded.

She shook her head slowly. "I have to get ready for the surgery."

"So you can still spare five minutes," he badgered, tugging at her elbow.

"Naruto—"

Sometimes, Naruto was forgetful of his own strength as he pulled her closer, causing her to trip and fall forward onto him. He held her steady in his arms and whispered, "Whoops, sorry."

"Just promise me you'll leave my relationship with him alone, Naruto. I want to deal with it on my own terms," she looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Please, I don't want to relive that moment with him, and I don't want him to recall that night."

He circled his arms around her and hugged her. "He loves you," he mumbled.

"I know…but…it's better this way, I think."

"It's not better for him—"

"Hi Doctor Haruno!" a loud, cheerful voice broke the tension between the two. Sakura turned her head to greet the nurse, only to notice that Sasuke was staring at her from his bed. How had they gotten so close to the entrance of the door?

* * *

"Though usually the weather reports are never accurate," Rina continued and Sasuke shrugged.

"Yeah, but the skies are grey, maybe we will get some snow after all," he replied. A movement by the door caught his eyes. He saw the side profile of a tall, blonde man in a leather jacket and jeans. He was talking to someone, but Sasuke couldn't see who it was. The man moved closer to the entrance of the door. He was holding someone's arm. Suddenly, a young woman was in his arms.

_Sakura?_ he thought, confused. Why was the doctor talking to that guy? Why was he holding her so intimately? And why were they whispering to each other? Was that her boyfriend? Or maybe her husband? She didn't have a ring on her finger though. Maybe she didn't wear it at work. How come she never mentioned the guy before? Why is he still holding her?

Sasuke's mind was racing with thoughts as his hand wrapped around the blanket on his lap into a tight fist. _Why the fuck am I getting so agitated for_? He thought, angry with himself for feeling jealous over the whole thing.

He watched intensely as they whispered to each other.

"Hi Doctor Haruno!" Rina chimed in, finally noticing the two people standing by the door. "Sasuke is doing great today."

He watched as her head turned to his direction and her eyes widened. She blinked a few times, her face flushed red.

"That's good to hear," she replied. The blonde guy let go of her and had a sheepish grin on his face as he too, turned to look at Sasuke.

"Damn, dude, you gave me a scare! I'm so glad to see you awake!"

Sasuke felt a pinch of pain come from the side of his head as he recollected his memories of a loud, blonde guy.

"Naruto," Sasuke solemnly greeted. He didn't have detailed memories of him, but Sasuke was aware that he knew him for a long time.

"Oh shit, Sakura! He knows my name!" the loud mouth said as he embraced the doctor once again and twirled her in a circle. "What else do you remember!?" he asked just as he placed her back onto the floor.

"I remember that annoying voice of yours," he replied, his eyes not once leaving the doctor. '_If Naruto knew Sakura, and if Naruto was my close friend, then that meant Sakura and I have known each other much longer then she let known.' _He thought to himself. She was hiding something from him, and he be damned if he didn't find out.

"Eh, jerk!" Naruto retorted, backslapping Sasuke's foot that wasn't covered by the blanket.

Sasuke tried not to flinch from the impact, his right leg still hurt, but he didn't want to appear weak in front of this tall, annoying guy, whom seemed to take a liking to Sakura.

"Do that again Naruto, and you will find yourself in a hospital bed right beside Sasuke, with a broken leg of your own," Sakura threatened.

Sasuke couldn't help but give a low chuckle at what her side comment.

Naruto, on the other hand, laughed so loud, he ended up coughing. "Well, then it would be just like old times! Wouldn't it, Sasuke? You and me, in the hospital, being taking care of by this pretty lady—" He was caught off by a punch to his arm. "Hey—Sakura—what the hell—"

"You know exactly why, and how many times do I have to remind you to keep you voice down, there are other patients here that are trying to rest!"

Sasuke looked from Naruto to Sakura. Their interaction seemed so normal, as if they'd gone through this before. Sasuke was right then, the two knew each other well. A little jealous bug was beginning to form inside him.

"Actually, if it's all the same to you both, I'd like some peace and quiet as well."

"Dude, you know how long I've been waiting to see you! You seem to have rested long enough, it's time to catch up—"

"Maybe another day." '_Or rather, not ever.'_ Sasuke thought. The guy was irritating to look at. He was tall, physically well built, and his face was clean and polished, unlike himself. He was bandaged up, not groomed, and looked as sickly as a dying man. He was pretty sure Sakura noticed the difference in appearance too.

"Hey bastard! I didn't turn down an important case this morning just so I can get attitude from you!"

"I don't recall ever asking you to come visit me. In fact, I don't even remember you, other than your freaking irritating voice. Why the hell did security even let you through?"

Naruto pulled out his badge and threw it at Sasuke, which he caught with his good hand. "That's why, you fucking prick!"

The tension between the two intensified. They both glared at each other.

And suddenly, the two burst into a laugh at the same time. "God, you're annoying as ever, dweeb."

Naruto swiftly caught the badge that Sasuke threw back at him. "As if you've change at all, bastard."

Sakura stood off to the side. It was overwhelming watching the two interact. Sometimes, she was sure they were going to kill each other. But they would always end up laughing and cooling off before any physical damage was done.

Rita, on the other hand, had left the room the moment they started yelling at each other. Sakura decided it was best she sneaked out too. She had to make sure security wasn't called again, and she had to get ready for the surgery. At least, that's what she told herself. Deep down, she was running away from his attention.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Naruto wasn't going to understand how she felt. Sasuke had a sixty percent chance of recovering to the point where he will be physically capable to return to his job again, or so that's what his doctor informed her earlier today.

If he doesn't recover, he will hate her forever. If he does recover, he will go back to his job, and nothing would've changed between the two. Their relationship had no future. Sakura had tried to pretend that everything would go back to normal once he had awakened. But reality hit her hard, and that was it for the two of them.

Time for her to clear her own mind, and focus on her job.

From the corner of his eye, he watched her leave the room. He wondered what had been going through her mind just a moment ago. Her face held no expression, but her body language told another story. She had fidgeted with her hands the whole time she stood aside. Her posture had been stiff and guarded. _What was she trying to defend herself from?_ He wondered.

"So how are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"You hear that Sakura—he's "Fine"," Naruto mocked as he looked over his shoulder, but the doctor wasn't there. "Damnit." He cursed under his breath as he sat in the chair beside the bed. "Well..then…I guess it's just you and I, like old times," he mumbled.

Sasuke shrugged. He couldn't comprehend the relationship Sakura and this loud mouth had together, and it annoyed him. But she was hiding something; that much he was certain of.

"So! Where shall we begin?" Naruto chimed as he tapped his foot on the floor.

Sasuke shrugged again.

"Right…so we are back to the 'I'm not going to talk to you because I'm an asshole' stage," Naruto rebuffed. "That's fine, I dealt with it before. This time around it should be easier."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. The guy acted as if he really knew everything about him.

Naruto continued tapping his foot, unsure of what to really say. Sakura warned him of what he shouldn't say and do, which pretty much left him with nothing to start with. He had to wait for Sasuke to say something. By the looks of it, the bastard didn't want to talk to him at all. He was too busy staring at the spot Sakura had been standing a few minutes ago.

Aha! Then it hit him.

"She's pretty hot, isn't she?" Naruto said with a wink. He had to contain back his laughter when Sasuke gave him a murderous glare in response. "Well, that sure got you attention!"

"What do you want?"

"Gee, I don't know! Maybe I just wanted to see how my best friend is doing!" Naruto glared back.

"Hn. We work together or something?" Sasuke asked, deciding to make an effort to be civil to this guy.

"Oh yeah! Catching bad guys and all that stuff…" Naruto trailed off, mentally punching himself for what he said.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde guy. "You were in the army with me then?"

"Army? Huh?" Naruto questioned.

"My dad told me that I was in the army for a few years after I finished college, so that's where we met, right?" Sasuke informed him.

"Your dad told you that?"

"Did I not just say my dad?" Sasuke rhetorically questioned. He was growing weary of the blonde idiot.

Naruto scratched the top of his head, confused as to what to say. Obviously that wasn't true. They never served in the army. They trained together in the policy academy. Why would his father lie about something like that?

"What else did he say?"

"Just the normal family history—brother drowned in an accident, mother died of a sickness, I was in the army, now I'm working at the office," Sasuke replied as if it meant nothing at all.

Naruto sat quietly, lost in his thoughts. He knew Sasuke's father was manipulative and a cruel businessman, but he never thought he would stoop so low and take advantage of Sasuke's condition. So what should he do now? Should he correct the information that was wrongly given to Sasuke, or should he let it go by for now? He was warned to not cause any traumatic stress for Sasuke.

Damn, he was caught in the middle of this. He had to tell Sakura about what Fugaku had done.

"Look, if you're just going to sit there and make weird expressions while you are thinking to yourself, then I suggest you do it elsewhere. You really are as annoying in person as you are in my mind."

Naruto growled. "Just because you're all bandaged up doesn't mean I won't beat the shit out of you!"

Sasuke snorted in response.

"Look man, I know you don't remember much and whatnot, but you seriously have to get your facts straight and not believe—" he was brusquely cut off by his ringtone. "Ah, fuck it, it's the Lieutenant."

Sasuke wondered where his own cellphone was. He probably had a list of contacts there and all sorts of information from his past. Maybe he had pictures as well. Pictures of the girl.

"Hey I have to go, it's an emergency…but I'll be back soon as I can and we can just talk about stuff and get your life straightened out, okay?" Naruto said as he held his fist in the air, waiting for Sasuke to tap it with this own.

For a brief moment, Sasuke thought to just blow him off and tell him to not bother returning. But then it occurred to him that Naruto might just be his only friend, and his only key to learning about his past. He could help him find the girl.

His raised his good arm and formed his hand into a tight fist. "Alright, just do me a favor though," he said as his fist connected with Naruto's. "Can you find out if my cellphone was boxed away with the rest of my belongings after the accident?"

"Yeah, sure man. It's probably down at the police station. See ya later!" With a wave, Naruto rushed out the room, leaving Sasuke to contemplate why his phone would be at the station. Why wouldn't it just be with hospital security, or something?

* * *

It was Feburary first. A little over two weeks had passed since he had woken up, and four days since he had last seen Sakura. Was she purposely avoiding him? She was his doctor, so why wasn't she checking up on him? He had regular visits from the neurologist and Rina was always at his side. His father stopped by three more times during the week, and Naruto had called him on the hospital phone to let him know he was working on a case and couldn't come see him for a few more days.

The only person left was Sakura.

What was her deal? Was she that occupied with her other patients that she couldn't spare a few minutes to see him? Was she on vacation or something? Most people take vacations around this time. Maybe she went to a nice sunny island with her boyfriend, whomever that may be. Or maybe she was sick in bed. It seemed to be a cold winter, and a tiny girl like her could definitely get sick fast. Or maybe…

Okay, he really needed to stop with the maybes.

_Maybe I should just go look for her_, he thought. It was nearly ten at night, nobody would be awake at this time. She probably wasn't even in the hospital. She was probably at home, snuggled in bed with her boyfriend—

Okay, now he really just had to stop, he was giving himself a headache for no reason!

Knowing full well that he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon; he decided that taking a stroll down the hall wouldn't be a bad idea. He had been bed ridden for well over two weeks, not to mention all the weeks he was in the coma. His body was sore and weak. He needed to regain his strength, and some exercise would be good.

Thankfully, he wasn't attached to the IV nor the heart monitor anymore. He made his way out the room swiftly. He didn't have any slippers, so he walked barefoot down the hallway.

Sasuke ventured down three different hallways, on two different floors, looking for her, but no luck. He headed to the staircase, deciding to try one more floor before he returned to his room.

And that's when he found her-sitting on the top step of the staircase that led to the surgery floor. She had her arms wrapped around her legs, and her head resting on her knees.

She was crying.

Sasuke never thought he would see the doctor in such a vulnerable state. She always seemed so strong. He quietly walked up the steps and without a moment's hesitation, he sat next, wrapping his good arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his side.

"She was only ten years old, and I couldn't save her…I couldn't save her," were the only words she spoke.

He didn't know what to say in order to make her feel better—because God help him, he wanted to make her feel better. It hurt him to see her like this. Such a caring person shouldn't have to go through such pain.

His mind was a mess. He couldn't come up with one single thing to say that would console her.

So he kissed the top of her head and just held her. And despite the circumstances of how he found her, it felt good to be this close to her and hold her.

_To be continued..._


	6. A Phone Call Away

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, but we surely enjoy writing about these characters.

Summary: After a fatal car accident, police officer Sasuke Uchiha loses his memory. Now he is stuck with trying to recover the last few years of his life, while at he same time, move on with his future. Yet there were so many people around him trying to fill in memory gaps, one of them being his persistent Father. But there was one person that not once tried to tell him some sort of story from his past, and he wondered why she kept her distance from him. He was sure he knew her. And despite every other memory, it was the memories of her that he so desperately wanted to get back.

Rated T: for language and kissing and ...yeah... :)

* * *

**Remember Me**

By DreamDevourer and TiKanis

Chapter Six  
A Phone Call Away

"You don't think it's too soon for the physical therapy to start?" Sakura asked the neurologists, Dr. Wu, as they both peered through the glass window. She watched as Sasuke struggled to hold a two pound weight with his right arm.

"Normally, we would give it another four weeks or so, but he was persistent to give it a try. I didn't see any harm in that, nor did his physical therapist once he gave him a thorough physical exam," the old doctor responded and then tapped on the window.

The therapist raised his head and peered back with a nod. Sasuke followed the gaze of his therapist and it landed on Sakura. _How long had she been watching him_? He wondered as he lowered the weight again and lifted it up. The movements were killing him, but the therapist said he would get used to it. So he bit down on his lower lip and continued with the exercise.

"You can take a break, Mr. Uchiha, I will just step outside for a moment," the black haired man, with green sweatpants and matching shirt, said as he helped Sasuke put the weight down on the floor. He sat in the chair and watched the man leave the room, closing the door behind him. Sasuke kept his gaze on all his doctors as they conversed amongst themselves.

"How's he coping with the therapy, Lee?"

"Well Doc, I've only just started and have been giving him the simplest movements to start with. He's in pain, which is normal, but on a scale from 0 to 10, the pain is a 6, which is why we kept going. It will get better with time," Lee replied and the old doctor nodded with approval.

"So his shoulder will be alright?" Sakura inquired, hopeful at the feedback.

"That's the tricky part Dr. Haruno. I've seen his xrays from the time of the accident and the new ones we took yesterday. The healing of his ligaments has started faster than we expected, and the tricky part is that they aren't all healing the way they should. Had we seen that coming, we could've intervened earlier, to help the muscles attach correctly, but now all we can do is exercise the muscles so they are used to being stretched out."

Sakura clenched her hands into tight fists and hid them in the pockets of her white lab coat.

"He's a police officer, you are aware of that, right? He would need to have full use of that arm to be on the force, will he be able to shoot a gun again?" Sakura asked, her voice already trembling.

Lee ran a hand through his jet black hair and shrugged. "Hard to tell really. At the moment, I would say no. It wouldn't be in his best interest to even try to fire a gun. The impact might tear his ligaments in his shoulder and cause inner bleeding. He will most likely not be allowed back on the force for at least another eight months, assuming that he heals correctly by then. And even after that, he needs to go through their force training again to make sure he's physically able to continue. Not to mention that his memory is still weary, as I was informed, so honestly, who knows when he will be ready?"

"So we're just playing it by ear? We're just taking guesses at his future? I need to know if it's a yes or no answer, not maybe, Lee. Will he or will he not be able to use a gun again?" Sakura snapped. She didn't mean to sound so harsh and abrupt, but she couldn't help it.

"Dr. Haruno, I've seen injuries like these before with other officers, four out of ten of them were fine after they went through a year of therapy. The other four ended up not qualifying to return back to the force—"

"And the other two?"

"They learned to use their left hand, but that's an entirely different direction to head toward. Restructuring a person to use a different part of his brain takes time. Right now that's not something I can start because he has no recollection of his past to begin with. I was told I had guidelines to follow in what I can say and can't in order to not cause him mental trauma. I will not be training him to use a gun nor anything along that line until the neurologist—that's you Doc—gives me the okay."

Sakura's jaw clenched shut when the old doctor nodded in agreement with what Lee said.

"That's correct Lee, just see to his physical rehabilitation as best you can without jeopardizing his mental stability."

"Got it Doc. If I'm done here, I'll return back to him."

Dr. Wu nodded and Lee excused himself after giving a quick bow.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak when the old man raised his finger to pause her.

"Let me say this once, Dr. Haruno. When you are here, you are first a doctor. And as a doctor you have a degree of professionalism and respect to upload. Your tone of voice is not appreciated nor will it be tolerated. Lee may have overlooked that, but I will not."

Sakura tried to apologize but he gave her a look that said he wasn't done yet.

"I understand your relationship with Mr. Uchiha puts you in a tough position of caring for him as a doctor and as family, that was why we didn't let you oversee him as you would normally do with any regular patient. We kept you informed of his progress and allowed you to check on his daily chart, out of benefit for you, because we understand what you are going through. But we will not tolerate you breaking guidelines and speaking out of order."

"I understand—I—"

Dr. Wu sighed and gave her a fatherly look. "Dr. Haruno you must understand that what I'm about to say is because I worry for your health and your ability to continue practicing medicine while you are in that state of mind."

"What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine—"

"When that young girl died on your table ten days ago, what happened Dr. Haruno?"

Sakura choked back a sob.

"It was a long and difficult procedure, but even so, I have seen you in many surgeries before—ones worse than the little girl—and you always excelled. The reports indicated that you were tired, not focused—"

"What? No! I tried my best, but after the incision, she…her heart just started bleeding and there was no stopping it." This time, she couldn't hold back as tears fell from the corner of her eyes, remembering the sound of the heart monitor as it went flat.

The doctor shook his head slowly. "That may be so, but it doesn't change the fact that you have been working nonstop for the past month since Mr. Uchiha was admitted into the hospital. You take on two shifts and you sleep in your office. You have neglected one of the most important polices as a doctor, and that's to take care of your own health so that you can perform at your best ability."

Sakura wiped away the tears with the back of her hand and narrowed her eyes. "So what are you going to do then?"

"I don't want to, believe me. I think of you as my daughter and my student, but I've already written a letter to the head department to have you suspended until you are in the right state of mind to practice medicine again."

Sakura was shocked at what he told her. There was no way she could have a suspension on her record. That was like having a criminal record. It didn't help that she already had a death on her hand. Was he right? Was it her fault? She had done everything as the protocol said—as she had studied, but it hadn't worked. Had she forgotten something? Had she really not been focused and tired? Her mind had wandered to Sasuke a few times during the operation, but she gave it her best, yet it wasn't enough.

The girl had died.

Had it really been her fault?

Clearly the other doctors and nurses thought so since they were already giving their reports in and putting her on the top of the list to blame.

"I haven't given that letter in yet because I wanted to give you the chance to go and ask for a temporary leave of absence. That will be a fairer thing for you. You are a great asset to this hospital. We care about you and we want to see you back, but not until you are clear of whatever troubles you have."

Sakura simply nodded and gave him a small bow. She couldn't speak; afraid she was going to break down in front of him if she opened her mouth. She turned on her heel and walked away.

* * *

Sasuke kept glancing to the window, watching with worry as his doctor talked to Sakura. He wondered what he was saying, but whatever it was, Sakura didn't look all too pleased to hear it. She then made a gesture to her face, as if wiping away at something. Tears?

Was she crying? What was Dr. Wu saying to her? He'd kill him for hurting her. Who the hell did he think he was scolding her and making her cry? And Sakura wasn't even arguing back. She was just standing there and absorbing all he was saying to her. Why wasn't she defending herself? Had she done something wrong? Was it about him?

His mind roamed at all possibilities as to what the problem could be, but he couldn't come up with a conclusion. Damn it. He was getting all worked up and couldn't do anything about it.

He watched her walk away in a hurry, her cheeks a shade of red. He couldn't just sit in this room and concentrate on his exercise while she was hurt and needed him. Or so he liked to think she needed him. He had comforted her that night she had lost a patient, and he knew he could do it again.

He _wanted_ to do it again. To be close to her.

"Mr. Uchiha we aren't done—"

"Sorry, but I'd like take a break, be right back," Sasuke quickly said as he walked to the door. He brushed past Dr. Wu and walked in a fast pace to catch up with her.

He was out of breath by the time he made it to the elevator.

"Hey wait!" he called after as he stuck his hand in between the sliding elevator doors to reopen them.

Sakura was shocked to see him. "Wh-what are you doing?" she stuttered.

"I-uh-I'm not sure actually," he replied with a nervous chuckle as he ran a hand through his tangled hair and stepped into the elevator.

"Well, are you okay though?" she asked with concern while looking at him up and down. He was dressed in light blue pants and matching t-shirt. His hair looked as if it had never been brushed and his unshaven face made him look older, more rugged. "Do you need anything?"

Sasuke was puzzled at how direct her tone was. She was trying her best to stay in control, he could tell. He also saw the redness around her eyes and knew she, in fact, had been crying.

"Can I be honest with you, Sakura?" he murmured, stepping closer to her as she stepped backwards, her back hitting the metal elevator wall.

"I guess—sure," she gulped, not sure why he was that close to her. His change of attitude surprised her and scared her.

"Truth is, I hate it when you cry," he stated in a matter of fact. She looked away from his piercing dark eyes.

"That's nothing for you to concern yourself with," Sakura mumbled, her heart beat pacing so fast she was afraid he could hear it. She felt his hand on her jaw, forcing her to look up at him. She felt like a little mouse trapped in a corner by a lion.

"It's not something I seem to have control over," he replied with hooded eyes. "Can I be honest with you with one more thing?"

Sakura was scared to death as to what he might say next. Why was he acting like this? Sasuke never displayed affection like this before. He cared for her, yes, a lot. He was protective of her more then she wanted him to be. He showed it in his own ways, though, like randomly sending her flowers to the hospital, or leaving gifts for her on the kitchen counter. They were small trinkets like a bead in her favorite turquoise color, or a picture of her favorite bird, a dvd copy of her favorite movie, and the list went on.

But he was never there to see her open the gifts, nor give them to her in public because he didn't want that kind of attention. He was the quiet and reserved type.

The Sasuke in the elevator with her now was a bit different. He was forward and didn't hold back his thoughts; whereas the older Sasuke, she had to pry his thoughts out of his mind, little by little. She would be lucky to get one sentence in response to any of her questions from him. Yet somehow, they had been good together.

Realizing he was waiting for her response, Sakura nodded slowly with unsure eyes.

"Truth is, I really want to kiss you."

Jesus, talk about being honest! Sakura held her breath, in shock. What was the matter with him? Why did he follow her into the elevator? What did he want from her? Oh, yeah, that was easy. He wanted to kiss her. But why? Was he remembering her?

"Only if you let me," he added, his head slanted to the side. He was but a breath away.

How easy would it be for her to just nod her head and allow him to kiss her. God, how she missed his kisses. But then what? Where would she go from there? Would she tell him everything and hope he would forgive her? Or would she pretend that it was their first kiss together and start new with him?

She knew that last part was impossible. He would regain parts of his past and question as to why she lied about not knowing him before. Everything was so confusing and it was even more difficult to think straight with his warm breath on her face and his hand on her cheek.

His hand. His arm. His shoulder.

That brought her back to reality. She was to be blamed for his pain and for his messed up future. He would never forgive her if he was stuck behind a computer screen, for the rest of his life. She will never forgive herself for what harm she had caused him. He had a long way until he fully recovered—if that was even possible. He's yet to really know how his family died, his hatred for his father dwelled deeper than he could imagine, and the one thing that has kept him sane—his job—he could never have because he wouldn't be physically fit. He will have to relive his nightmares because of her.

The elevator dinged, indicating the next stop was approaching.

Sakura removed his hand from her face and stepped aside, her back to him. "I'm your doctor, Mr. Uchiha."

Sasuke stared at her back, her shoulders slumped, her head bowed. "That's all I am." If possible, his heart would've fallen into the deepest part of his stomach, drowning in the acid. He had hoped that—had thought—had reason to believe that she was the girl from his dreams.

Her voice was similar, soft and angelic. Her skin porcelain and soft. Her hair long and her eyes bright. She took care of him through the days he was in his coma, and even afterwards. She was always there, soothing him. She always looked at him as if she wanted to tell him something, a secret. But she never said as much. And he always wanted to tell her that he dreamt of her—or a girl who was like her, but he didn't want to frighten her.

He had been thinking of all that the whole week. He had wanted to share with her his thoughts, only he hadn't seen her since that night on the stairwell when she had been crying, which made him wonder even more whether or not she was hiding from him on purpose. What secret was she trying to hide?

"Take care of yourself, Sasuke," he heard her say as the elevator door opened and she stepped out. He was about to grab onto her shoulder, to stop her, but all of a sudden he became dizzy.

_"You need to take better care of yourself, Sasuke," the gentle voice said as she approached him. He was laying on a dark sofa, shirtless. He still had his dark jeans on and his sneakers._

_He gave her a lopsided grin. "You worry too much, you know that right? It's just a scratch."_

_"You're just lucky it didn't puncture anything of importance," she replied._

The elevator door was already closed as he hit all the buttons, hoping to get out on the next stop. He was feeling claustrophobic and he couldn't breathe. His eyes were blurring as he fell to his knees, his face covered by his good hand.

He couldn't see the girl, he only saw himself, smiling and admiring the girl he was talking to.

_"Now hold still, this will sting," she warned as she wiped the cut on his abdominal with an alcoholic pad, causing him to wince. "And you're lucky I always keep a fully stacked up first aid kit."_

_He grabbed hold of her face with both hands and brought her closer to his, her face was becoming clearer to him. "Don't give me that look. You know I will always come home to you."_

_"Yeah I know, but I don't like seeing you hurt...that's all. Promise me you'll be more careful." He was bringing her face closer and closer as they spoke. Her green eyes sparkled at him, so lovingly. He was loved and he loved back. He never thought he was capable of loving someone as much as he felt he loved her. It felt so peaceful to be in her presence._

_"Tell me you love me," he had asked of her and she had told him that she would always love him. He kissed her gently and never had felt as content as he had then._

Sasuke was gasping for air as his memories switched to another night, a snowy night. There was shouting in his head, the smell of alcohol in her breath. She was mad at him. She wouldn't let him touch her. She didn't want him anywhere near her.

_"I hate you!" she had yelled at him and demanded he leave her._

_Then he was in a car. The tires were spinning out of control. There was snow everywhere. All he could think of was her, of never seeing her again. And then it was dark for a very long time. _

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled in a wretched and pained voice as he rolled onto his side on the cold elevator floor and fell into a dark slumber where angry voices surrounded him.

_Itachi was yelling at his father, holding him by his shirt. His mother was standing off to side, hand covering her face. Their father had struck her, he had seen it. He was underneath the dining table, hiding. Itachi stopped shouting the moment he saw him. He pushed their father away and came to his hiding spot. His brother picked him up and playfully tussled his hair, asking him if he wanted to go out and get some ice cream. He was too young to comprehend what had happened that day, but he knew his brother had been protecting him from the violence in that household for a very long time._

* * *

It was Febuary 14th.

"Hello, Mr. Uchiha?"

Sasuke looked from the calendar on the white wall to the woman that spoke to him. "Hn?"

"I asked if you were all set to go?"

Sasuke nodded in response. He was leaving the hospital, by his father's orders. He wasn't sure what had happened that day. They had found him in a fetal position on the elevator floor, shivering and knocked out.

He was out cold for a day and when he had awoken the next morning, he couldn't recall anything. Dr. Wu kept asking him questions to try and help him remember any details, but it was all blank. He felt worse than he had when he had first woken up. It felt like any progress he might have made was pushed back, further locked away.

His father had been immediately informed by the incident and that was the last straw for him. He was pissed that the hospital would let his son walk around the hospital unattended by neither a nurse nor doctor. So, his father was taking him home, where he would have two doctors on call at all times and a private nurse to take care of him.

He was too weak, too numb to object.

He wished he knew what had happened. He remembered being in the room with his physical therapist and then leaving, following her. She wasn't feeling good, he wanted to comfort her. He remembered being in the elevator with her. She had rejected him. It had hurt to be rejected by her. Afterwards, it went blank.

Dr. Wu had said his mind was the one that put him in that state. The old doctor had theorized that Sasuke was trying to remember something very important and possibly traumatic in his past, and that his mind started to freeze up and decline the memories to resurface.

"Mr. Uchiha?"

"Hn?"

"You were spacing out again, sir. We are ready to go when you are," she said and led the way to the door. He followed her down the hallway only to come to sudden halt when he saw a young man push a cart of flowers.

His body moved on its own regards as it approached the cart and his hand grabbed a red rose.

"That will be four dollars," the young man said and Sasuke looked at him confused. "The flower—it's four dollars, ten dollars if you want to add a vase."

Sasuke took the glass vase he extended to him and put the flower in it.

"Well?"

"I don't have any money…" he whispered as he held the vase to his chest, not wanting to return it.

"Mr. Uchiha, the car is waiting for us downstairs, we have to go," the woman said and handed the young man some money.

He was led away, her hand gripping his elbow so he wouldn't venture away again. She probably thought he was retarded in some way, but he wasn't. He was just lost, and confused. He couldn't feel his heart anymore. He knew it was there, in his chest, protected by his ribs. He knew it was there because he was alive and walking. But he couldn't feel it. He was missing something, missing someone.

Where was she?

Sakura.

He hadn't seen the doctor since that day in the elevator. Where had she gone? He found himself walking towards the stairs, hoping to find her on the top floor like he had days ago, but the woman tugged him another way.

"I need to see someone before I leave," he said to her as he tried to get his arm out of her hold. Damn, for a small woman, she sure had a strong grip.

"Fine, I will come with you."

He went down the hallway, making a few turns, down some more hallways. _Why was the hospital so big?_ He wondered. Finally he made it to a door that had her name on it, written in black on a gold rectangle plaque. He knocked on the door, but no answer.

The woman stood behind him, impatient as he knocked again and again. He turned the knob and it was locked. Where had she gone?

A janitor came towards them, swinging his keys. "You folks need some help?"

"No—"

"Yes, please, I need to get in there," Sasuke cut off the woman and pointed at the door.

"Oh, I can't do that, sir. The doctor has been away for a few days and most likely not return for another few months, from what I'm told, so the door is to remain closed," the bald man with grey trousers and a grey button down shirt said.

"She's gone?" he was in shock. Where could she have gone? Why did she leave without saying anything to him? He felt a migraine starting to form in his head.

"Yeah, packed up and left three days ago."

Three days ago? That was the same day the incident in the elevator had occurred. Had he scared her away?

Sasuke looked at the red rose in his hand. "Will you give her this for me?" he asked, handing the rose to the man.

"I-uh-don't know if the flower with survive until she returns," the man gave him a pitied look.

"I see…" Sasuke mumbled.

"Though I guess, I can. I mean, I can just leave it on her desk…that shouldn't harm anyone."

Sasuke wanted to hug the man for his kindness, but didn't.

"Thank you, sir."

"Ah, not a problem. It's Valentine's day after all!" he smiled and unlocked the door. "Did you want to leave a note?"

A note? Sasuke hadn't thought about that. Actually, he never thought of giving her anything. His body just took control and he mindlessly found himself with a vase and a flower in his hand.

He nodded and the man pulled out a small note pad from his pant pocket with a pen.

What would he say though? Nothing came to mind, it was blank. It had been blank for three days. What was the most important thing he wanted to let her know? He held the note pad in his right hand and tried to write with his left.

_I will remember.  
S._

He scribbled and folded the paper in half.

"Thank you," he said again to the janitor before he was pulled away by the woman.

"I'll be sure to put water in the vase!" the janitor said with wave of his hand.

* * *

Sasuke held his breath as he stepped through the sliding glass door. It was loud outside, and bright. Cars everywhere, people everywhere. He wanted so badly to run back up stairs and hide in his room, but he knew he couldn't. He had to move on. He couldn't stay cooped up in that room. He wasn't going anywhere by staying there, he wasn't getting any better. He needed to remember his past, and the only way to do that was to face reality.

"Come get in the car before you freeze to death. The last thing I need is your father yelling about you getting sick," the woman scolded and snapped her fingers at the chauffer to hurry up and open the limousine's back door.

Sasuke ducked his head and stepped into the lavish limousine. He sat beside the door and eyed the woman closely as she took a seat further down, near the driver. She had short pitch-black hair and matching eyes that were hidden behind black framed glasses. She looked to be his age, possibly a few years older, but not past thirty. She had an arrogant look of a sort—though he couldn't pinpoint whom that reminded him of. She removed her heavy coat and folded it neatly beside her seat.

"It's rude to stare," she remarked without even sparing him a glance as she typed away on her cellphone.

"Hn." Sasuke removed his own coat that she had provided him earlier and purposely threw it on the seat in front of him. He watched as the girl eyed his coat. He wondered if it was bothering her that it was half lounging on the seat, half on the floor. She rolled her eyes and returned to her phone.

"My name is Mia, by the way. It's going to be a four hour drive back to the mansion. There's a refrigerator over there—" she pointed at the black rectangular box that separated the long seat in half. "Fully stocked. If you need any other special accommodation, just say so, and it shall be arranged."

He could tell she really didn't want to accommodate him in anyway. He wondered what issues she had with him. Had he done her any sort of wrong in the past? If so…obviously he couldn't be held accountable since he couldn't recall anything. He chose not to dwell too much on her and turned to look out the window.

Light snow started to fall. It was serene as he watched little kids trying to catch the snowflakes. They were laughing and shouting with glee as the snow picked up pace. The car started moving and he let out a small sigh.

He leaned back into the seat and kept gazing out the window. Was this where he lived, or was he only here because the hospital was close by to where the accident took place? He answered his questioned when he recalled Naruto and Sakura. They lived in this city, and they knew him. Somewhere out there, he had a house, or an apartment.

Somewhere out there, someone was waiting for him.

Despite all his confusion and his agony, he knew—deep inside—he knew there was someone waiting for him to come home. As soon as he was better, he would return home, and everything would be better.

A flash of gold caught his eyes as the car started to slow down at another traffic light. He narrowed his eyes at the restaurant and the words "La Luna" written in gold.

* * *

_He knew he messed up. He was late yet again. He watched her through the glass window as she stood up and allowed the waiter to place a black coat over her bare shoulders. The coat stopped at her ankle of her black boots. She wrapped a green scarf around her neck and a matching green hat placed over her head. The waiter's shoulder blocked his view from seeing her face._

_Knowing she would be walking out the restaurant soon, he ducked behind the telephone booth and watched as she walked out, her head bowed. He had assumed she would take a taxi home, but she started walking down the street instead._

_It was a quite night, half past midnight. The streets had a sheet of white snow, untouched since it had only started an hour ago. He followed behind her, keeping a long distance away. He followed her all the way to the park. There were still some patches of green on the ground, the snow hadn't covered everything yet._

_She dusted off the snow from the wooden bench and sat down. He watched her from behind the tree trunk. He could only see her dark profile; the street lamp was too far away to provide decent lighting. Then she had done something that had broken him. She had started crying. She had leaned forward, face in both hands, and cried._

_He didn't know what to do, other than stay hidden and watch her. They had made plans to spend their first Valentine's day together, but he had been called to work. So he made last minute dinner reservations for 10p.m. and she was happy with that. He had promised he would be there, and yet he couldn't get away from his job. When he finally went to the restaurant, he hadn't thought she would still be there. But she was. She had waited over two hours for him, and now she was crying, alone in the cold park._

_Why did he always mess up when it came to her?_

_He had followed her home, hiding behind shadows. Once she went inside the brick apartment building, he leaned on the lamp post, watching her through the window, waiting for the lights go out._

_Half an hour later, he walked into the apartment. He dropped his keys on the table near the door and hung up his coat on the hook. He removed his boots and made his way to the bathroom in the dark. He removed his shirt and pants, replacing them with dark pajama pants he kept on the shelf. Running a hand through his shaggy hair, he walked into the bedroom, trying to make as little noise as possible._

_He climbed into bed, getting underneath the blankets. He molded his body against hers as he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against him. Her warm back heated up his bare cold chest, and her legs warmed his frozen ones. He knew she was awake by the way her body reacted to his cold touch, but she kept pretending she was asleep and he let her. He rested his head on top of hers, his cold cheeks pressing down onto her warm face._

_"I'm sorry," he murmured, placing a kiss on the corner of her mouth. He stayed like that for a few moments, hoping she would turn around to look at him, when she didn't make a move to give him any recognition; he let out a small sigh and slowly let her go._

_He laid on his back, in quiet, staring into the dark._

_"I waited," came a soft whisper. "You promised."_

_Only her words could comfort or break him. Right now they tore him to bits. He wasn't good with words, he wasn't good with explaining himself, he was worse when it came to comforting her._

_"I'm sorry," he repeated, helpless. He didn't dare move as she turned onto her side to face him. He turned his head to look at her. It was dark in the room, he only saw her outline, but he knew her well enough to know how she looked. He could imagine her lips were in the thin line, a sign of disapproval. Her eyebrows were probably furrowed, upset. Her eyes must be swollen from the crying she had down not too long ago._

_She placed her soft, warm hand on his bare chest and came closer. She sighed as she wrapped her legs with his and placed a kiss on his forehead. "If I were as cruel as you, I'd make you sleep on that small sofa for a whole week," she teased as she placed kisses along his jaw._

_'If I was as cruel as you'…those words spun in his head. He knew she was playing around, but at the same time, he knew how true those words were. He was cruel, it was a fact. He didn't know how to be kind, but he tried for her. She brought out what little good there was left, and he loved her for that. She understood him and accepted him._

_He gently pushed her onto her back and crushed her down onto the mattress with his weight, capturing her lips in a full kiss. "I love you," she said to him, breaking the kiss and looking through the dark, trying to find his eyes. He knew what she wanted to hear, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. How could he explain to her that he had loved her from the first time he had laid eyes on her? How could he explain to her that she had saved him? That she was still saving him every day?_

_He couldn't because he didn't know how. He wasn't good with words. The only person he had said I love you was to his mother and she was dead. What if, when he finally admitted his love for her, he would end up losing her somehow? It would kill him. He couldn't take the chance. He had to be careful._

_He loved her, more than anyone—including her—could possibly know, and the only way he could show it was through his kisses and lovemaking. And she understood, he knew, he hoped. She accepted him._

_In the morning, he left for work, not waiting for her to wake up. Before leaving though, he left her a black velvet box with a pair of diamond earrings and a note._

_I'll be better.  
S._

* * *

"Hey, wake up."

"Huh?" Sasuke felt someone poking a finger at his shoulder.

"Had a nice nap?"

"Nap?"

"Yes, you were out cold for the entire ride."

Sasuke's eyes finally opened up as he registered where he was. He was in a limo, covered with a blanket, with the arrogant woman. Okay, maybe Mia wasn't that bad since she was thoughtful enough to put a blanket around him.

"Had a bad dream?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her.

"You were frowning the whole time up until the very end."

He shrugged and stared back out the window. The car was slowing down. He recognized the house. His home. Mia let out a small "tsk" as she sat back at the end of the limo, grabbing her cellphone.

Yet, it wasn't his home. He dreamt of his home, and it wasn't anywhere near here. It was in a three story brick building, near a park, and there awaited a young girl who loved him. What awaited him in this mansion?

* * *

It was March 28th, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why that day was so significant to him. He sat at his desk in his room and stared at the blank paper in front of him. He was sending her a letter, but couldn't think of anything casual to say. He had already crumpled up three papers.

Sighing, he picked up his pen once again.

_March 28,_

_Sakura_

_I figured, since you were my doctor and all, I'd let you know that I'm doing fine. My scars are all pretty much healed up and stitches are all removed. The only thing still bothering me is my right arm, which I was told is normal. They told me it most likely wouldn't heal to its full potential, but I would still have good use of it. I can still swing a bat while playing baseball, so that's good enough. I've just recently started going to the office with my father, a few days a week, just to get used to the office. That's fine as well. So everything is fine with me, not to worry._

_Anyways, just wanted to say Hi and see how you were doing. Please accept this small gift as a thank you for taking care of me. Maybe someday, I will stop by and we can go out for dinner at that restaurant that have mimes for waiters. The food isn't great, but I'm sure you would enjoy the entertainment._

_Sincerely,  
S._

He didn't know where he remembered that particular restaurant from, but he didn't dwell too much on it. He folded the paper in half, then in half again before placing it in a light green envelope. He picked up the matching green velvet box and peered into the box. It contained a pin in shape of a cherry blossom. The guy that sold it to him said it could be used as a hair clip or a clothes pin, he hoped she would like something like that.

With a small smile he placed the box and letter into a cardboard box and sealed it with tape. He then looked at the black phone.

Naruto had mailed it to him as soon as he had left the hospital. The problem was that it needed an access code and it only gave him four tries before the phone would lock. He had already made three attempts. He tried calling the phone company to give him the access to it, but they wouldn't. Naruto had warned him the phone would lock permanently if he failed at all attempts, and had apologized because he had no idea what the code could be.

He sighed as he walked down the marble staircase.

"Can you see that this gets mailed out today?" Sasuke asked the footman by the front door. The old fellow nodded. "It has to be express mail, I need it to reach her _today_," Sasuke enforced the last word.

"Not to worry sir, it shall be done."

Sasuke thanked him and walked back up the stairs to his room. Why was today so important? Damn it. The significance of today was bothering him to no end. He laid on his king sized bed and glared at the phone.

He keyed in "0328" and held his thumb over the "submit" button. Should he dare try it? What more had he to lose? He had no idea of how to get the number. Taking a deep breath, he hit the button.

He bolted straight up in his bed the moment the screen lit up and the welcome page appeared. _Holy Shit_.

He quickly scrolled threw the list of contacts and frowned. _How come only numbers were listed, not names?_ He wondered. Had he seriously memorized all those numbers? Annoyed, he left that screen and went into his photo album, only to come to another problem. It was also coded. This time he had to draw a line threw the keys in a certain pattern. He couldn't comprehend why his phone was so cryptic. He couldn't even access his "notes" nor his "messages" without needing a pass code of some sort.

Truly frustrated, he threw the phone against the opposing wall. It landed with a loud thud onto the carpeted floor.

Then it hit him—0328. Today's date. It clearly had more significance to him than he knew, especially since it opened his phone. He had woken up in the morning and had gone to a local jewelry store, not knowing what he wanted to buy, but that he had to get something. He ended up with hair pin for Sakura. It seemed to have satisfied him enough to buy and mail it out to her.

He jumped out of bed and picked up the phone. Great, he cracked the screen. His temper was getting worse as the days wore on. He wasn't sure why he was so short tempered. He never remembered being like that. The moment he had walked into the house over a month ago, weird feelings came to him and he was just angry, all the time. He tried his best to hide that, but every so often, he would yell at a maid, or curse the chef for making him something he hated, and the list went on.

They probably thought he was a spoiled son of a gun. Though they never much as complained, and always apologized and went on about their day. What confused him even more was the pitied look they would always give him. Why did they pity him? He never had the courage to ask.

He was able to open the calendar on the phone despite the blurriness of the images. Today's date popped up. There was a memo on it. _Today's my birthday! You better take today off from work_!

_Today was someone's birthday? Whose birthday? _He knew, the moment he asked himself, he knew whose it was.

It was hers.

The girl he constantly dreamt about but had no way of finding her.

He went back under his contact list and scrolled down the list of numbers. Trying to find any similarities of phone calls made. He found the number he was looking for. The same number was dialed once a day, always in the evening.

He couldn't believe he was just a phone call away from finding her! He hit the dial button and held his breath as he waited for it to ring.

_I'm sorry but the person you are trying to reach is not accepting calls at this time._

The automated voice said and Sasuke nearly lost it as he punched the wall with his hand, causing a surge of pain to shoot up his right arm.

* * *

One year later, he was in a restaurant in the city having lunch with potential buyers when he saw her walk into the restaurant. She wore a light purple, strapless dress that hugged tight at her torso but flowed outwards from her waist. She had on matching heels and a white purse. Her hair was up in a high ponytail. Her skin was golden tan. She looked radiant as she smiled and waved.

Sasuke looked over to where she was waving, it was a young man dressed in khakis and a polo-shirt. He only saw the back of his brown hair, so he couldn't recognize him.

"Mr. Uchiha?"

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Ah, sorry about that…" They continued to converse about the business contract. He half heard what they were saying as he kept his focus on the girl that sat only a few tables down from where he was.

Should he go say hi? What would she do? What if that was her date, it would be awkward, right? If she had wanted to talk to him, she would've contacted him. It had been a year since he had sent her the gift and he had never heard from her. Maybe she never received it?

It looked like she didn't want to stay long as she declined the waiter for any orders. She was laughing and tugging on the young man's arm. They stood up to leave.

Sasuke's heart beat increased tremendously as she was led to the exit. He couldn't let her go without saying something to her. He couldn't.

He stood up and excused himself and quickly walked to the door. He didn't realize he had the phone in his hand as he stepped out into the street. He had carried the phone everywhere he went, the whole year. And he would dial the number once a day, hoping the phone would be turned on. Yet he would still receive the same automatic response. He hadn't dialed it last night, too tired to get another rejected message, and having had decided to make no more attempts.

Sasuke saw them cross the street, where they had paused and continued talking. A taxi pulled over. He looked at his phone and held his breath as he hit the redial button.

And it rang!

The phone was ringing.

And it kept on ringing.

_Pick up the phone, please_, Sasuke mentally pleaded while he looked at Sakura from across the street. It was his last hope in confirming whether or not Sakura was the girl he'd been looking for. His dreams were memories, he knew that. And she was in them, at least the girl looked like her, sounded like her, felt like her.

"I'm sorry but the person you are trying to reach is not available—" Sasuke nearly threw the phone into the traffic when he came to a pause at the last part. "Please leave a message after the beep."

Oh shit! What should he say? Seconds were already passing by.

"Happy Birthday," he said with a hint of desperation and hung up.

She hadn't picked up the phone. She was still talking with the guy, who then gave her a kiss on the cheek and stepped into the taxi.

"Mr. Uchiha!" Sasuke abruptly turned to Mia. "Sir, the gentlemen inside are getting upset. They're waiting for you and are saying that you are being highly unprofessional."

_Damn it_, he thought as he ran a hand through his hair and followed Mia back to the restaurant without sparing a glace back at her.

Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. Maybe it really wasn't Sakura he dreamt of. Maybe he so badly wanted to have a connection with Sakura that his mind decided to put her in his dreams, make up false memories. It was quite evil and demented of his mind to do such a thing. If Sakura was the girl he was looking for, then she would've found him long ago. There was no reason why she would hide from him for so long, right? So it wasn't her. He had to let Sakura go. But he didn't want to.

He just didn't know anymore. He was falling into a deeper hole and he had no one to turn to for help.

* * *

Sakura felt the phone vibrate in her purse but didn't want to be rude to Shikamaru. He was in the middle of telling her the news that he was engaged. Crazy how fast the rest world moves on when you're gone for a year where no technology existed.

She pulled out her phone and gasped.

1 Missed Call  
From: Sasuke Uchiha

1 Voicemail  
From: Sasuke Uchiha

Her hand shook as she hit the play button. "Happy Birthday." It was so abrupt, yet his tone was so sad and tired.

_To be continued_

* * *

Hey there folks! As I said in the "Roommates" story, DreamDevourer has left the stories up to me to write, her job is taking up too much of her time, as is my job, but i'm trying to finish these stories! She will help on the side when she can.

Also...Yeah, definitely wrote this in one sitting as well, my back hurts. I sent the chapter over to DreamDevourer so she can check for grammar, but she will most likely take forever, so i posted the chapter, and will re-post when she sends it back. Hopefully i didnt' make too many grammar errors! (Dont kill me!)

So, I purposely did quite a bit of time-skipping with Sasuke, so he could match up to the point where Sakura is in her life (and Yes...her story will be explained in the beginning of the next chapter).

Alot of last minute drama coming up in the next chapters with Sasuke and his father and of course Sakura's in the middle of it with some side appearances for Naruto. And the ring? Omg where's the ring? (wink wink)

_Few more chapters and this baby is coming to an end! Can't wait!_

_Do hope you enjoyed reading, and many many thanks for all the reviews and support!_

_(Roommates has been updated and The Artist posted) check them out if you're curious!_


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